A heptathlon is a

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete. There are two heptathlons – the men's and the women's heptathlon – composed of different events. The men's heptathlon is older and is held indoors, while the women's is held outdoors and was introduced in the 1980s, first appearing in the Olympics in 1984.

Women's heptathlon

JessicaEnnis 800m Heptatlon London2012 3

Women's heptathlon is the combined event for women contested in the athletics programme of the Olympics and at the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

. The World Athletics Combined Events Tour determines a yearly women's heptathlon champion. The women's outdoor heptathlon consists of the following events, with the first four contested on the first day, and the remaining three on day two: *

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

* High jump * Shot put *

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

Javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the wom ...

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

The heptathlon has been contested by female athletes since the early 1980s, when it replaced the pentathlon as the primary women's combined event contest (the javelin throw and 800 m were added). It was first contested at the Olympic level in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

. In recent years some women's decathlon competitions have been conducted, consisting of the same events as the men's competition in a slightly different order, and

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

has begun keeping records for it, but the heptathlon remains the championship-level combined event for women.

Nafissatou Thiam Nafissatou "Nafi" Thiam (; born 19 August 1994) is a Belgian Sport of athletics, athlete specializing in multi-event competition. Thiam is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, winning the heptathlon event at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016 and 2020 ...

, representing Belgium, is the 2020 Olympic Gold Medallist, after successfully defending her 2016 title. She is also the reigning

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and European Champion.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson (born 9 January 1993) is an English athlete primarily known as an elite multi-eventer, both as a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete. She has been World Champion in both disciplines, and a double Commonwealth ...

, representing Great Britain, is the current Commonwealth Champion.

Odile Ahouanwanou Odile Ahouanwanou (born 5 January 1991) is a Beninese heptathlete, who also specialises in the 100 metres hurdles; she holds Beninese records in both events. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2015 African Games and two African Champions ...

Yekaterina Voronina Ekaterina Alexandrovna Voronina (russian: Екатерина Александровна Воронина; born 16 February 1992 in Tashkent) is an Uzbekistani track and field athlete who competes in the heptathlon. Her personal best for the event ...

Kiara Reddingius Kiara may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Kiara (given name), includes a list of people with the given name * Saint Cera (died 679), also spelled Kiara, a 7th-century Irish Roman Catholic saint * Kiara (drag queen), stage name of Canadian drag entert ...

, Luisarys Toledo and

Ariana Ince Ariana Ince (born March 14, 1989) is an American track and field athlete specializing in the javelin throw. She represented her country at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships without qualifying for the final. In addition, she won a bronze me ...

hold the African, Asian, Oceanian, South American and NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean) titles respectively.

Adriana Rodríguez Adriana Rodríguez Fuentes (born 12 July 1999) is a Cuban athlete competing in the heptathlon and long jump. She represented her country in the latter at the 2019 World Championships in Doha without reaching the final. Earlier that year she won ...

Marthe Koala Marthe Koala (born 8 March 1994) is a Burkinabe athlete competing in the 100 metres hurdles and heptathlon. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 and the 2020 Summer Olympics, she competed in the Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 ...

Swapna Barman Swapna Barman (born 29 October 1996) is an Indian heptathlete. She won the gold medal at 2018 Asian Games and placed first in the Heptathlon at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships. In August 2019, she was honoured with the Arjuna Award. In 20 ...

and Elenani Tinai hold the Panamerican Games, African Games, Asian Games and Pacific Games titles respectively. There is also a

Tetradecathlon The tetradecathlon is a 14-event form of athletics. The International Association for Ultra Multievents (IAUM) is in charge of it and runs the World Championships for it alongside the Icosathlon. The event is also called the double heptathlon. The ...

, which is a double heptathlon, consisting of 14 events, seven events per day.

Points system

The heptathlon scoring system was devised by Dr Karl Ulbrich, a Viennese mathematician. The formulae are constructed so that, for each event, a designated benchmark performance (for example, approximately 1.82 m for the high jump) scores 1000 points. Each event also has a minimum recordable performance level (e.g. 0.75 m for the high jump), corresponding to zero points. The formulae are devised so that successive constant increments in performance correspond to gradually increasing increments in points awarded. The events are split into three groups, and the scores are calculated according to the three formulae: :Running events (200 m, 800 m and 100 m hurdles): ::

P = a \cdot (b - T)^c

:Jumping events (high jump and long jump): ::

P = a \cdot (M - b)^c

:Throwing events (shot put and javelin): ::

P = a \cdot (D - b)^c

''P'' is for points, ''T'' is for time in seconds, ''M'' is for height or length in centimeters and ''D'' is length in meters. ''a'', ''b'' and ''c'' have different values for each of the events, as follows:

Benchmarks

The following table shows the benchmark levels needed to earn 1000, 900, 800 and 700 points in each event.

Women's world records compared with heptathlon bests

Men's heptathlon

The other version is an indoor competition, normally contested by men only. It is the men's combined event in the

IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

. The men's indoor heptathlon consists of the following events, with the first four contested on the first day, and remaining three on day two: *

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

* shot put * high jump * 60 metres hurdles *

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

1000 metres The 1000 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. The 1000 yards, an imperial alternative, was sometimes also contested. All-time top 25 *h = hand timed *i = indoor performance *A = affected by ...

The scoring is similar for both versions. In each event, the athlete scores points for his performance in each event according to scoring tables issued by the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

(IAAF).
The athlete accumulating the highest number of points wins the competition.

Benchmarks

The following table shows the minimum benchmark levels required to earn 1000 points in each event.

Men's world records compared with heptathlon bests

All-time top 25

Women

*Heptathlon – women – senior – outdoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.

Notes

Below is a list of all other scores equal or superior to 6875 pts: *

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is a retired American track and field athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the heptathlon as well as long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals in tho ...

also scored 7215 (1988), 7158 (1986), 7148 (1986), 7128 (1987), 7044 (1992), 6979 (1987), 6910 (1986), 6878 (1991). *

Carolina Klüft Carolina Evelyn Klüft (; born 2 February 1983) is a retired Swedish track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon, triple jump, long jump, and pentathlon. She was an Olympic Champion, having won the heptathlon title in 2004. She was al ...

also scored 7001 (2003), 6952 (2004), 6887 (2005). *

also scored 6947 (2022). *

Jessica Ennis Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 28 January 1986) is a British retired track and field athlete from England, specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, ...

also scored 6906 (2012). * Sabine Paetz also scored 6897 (1988). *

Larisa Nikitina Larisa Turchinskaya (russian: Лариса Турчинская, née Nikitina on 29 April 1965) is a retired Russian heptathlete. Career Her personal best result is 7007 points, achieved on 10–11 June 1989 in Bryansk. This result remained t ...

also scored 6875 (1989).

Annulled marks

* Tatyana Chernova scored 6880 (2011), this performance was annulled due to doping offence.

Men

*Heptathlon – men – senior – indoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.

Notes

Below is a list of all other scores equal or superior to 6319 pts: *

Ashton Eaton Ashton James Eaton (born January 21, 1988) is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete (after Roman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-point ...

also scored 6632 (2014), 6568 (2011), 6499 (2010), 6470 (2016). *

Roman Šebrle Roman Šebrle (; born 26 November 1974) is a retired decathlete from the Czech Republic. He is considered to be one of the best decathlon athletes of all time. Originally a high jumper, he later switched to the combined events and is a former worl ...

also scored 6420 (2001), 6358 (2000), 6350 (2004), 6319 (1999). *

Kevin Mayer Kevin Mayer (, or , born 10 February 1992) is a French athlete. He is two-time world champion (2017, 2022), two-time Olympic silver medalist ( 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo) and world record holder in the decathlon. He is also a world and ...

also scored 6392 (2021), 6348 (2018). * Sebastian Chmara also scored 6386 (1999). * Bryan Clay also scored 6365 (2004). *

Damian Warner Damian David George Warner (born November 4, 1989) is a Canadian track and field athlete specializing in decathlon. He is the 2020 Olympic champion and a three-time World medallist (silver in 2015, bronze in 2013 and 2019). Warner also won the ...

also scored 6343 * Eelco Sintnicolaas also scored 6341 (2013).

Medalists

Women's Olympic medalists

Women's World Championships medalists

Men's World Indoor Championships medalists

Season's bests