Tom Pappas (born September 6, 1976, in Azalea,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

) is an American

track & 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 ...

decathlete. Pappas won the gold medal at the 2003 World Championships held outside

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and was rated number 1 in the world that year by

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running ...

. He is a four-time US champion (2000, 2002, 2003, 2006) and was the 1999

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

champion while attending the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

. He finished fifth at the 2000 Olympic decathlon, and competed in but did not finish the decathlon due to a foot injury at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. His personal best in the decathlon is 8,784 points while winning the 2003 US Championships held at Stanford University, CA. He won the 2003

Jesse Owens Award The Jesse Owens Award (also the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award for the female version of the award) is an annual track and field award that is the highest accolade given out by USA Track & Field (USATF). As the country's highest award for the sport, ...

from

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 a ...

, signifying he was Athlete of the Year. Tom Pappas is currently the co-owner of Lane 5 Crossfit in Eugene, Oregon. He placed 3rd at the United States Olympic Trials in the Decathlon in Eugene, Oregon in July, 2008 to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in August. Pappas also was unable to complete the decathlon in Beijing due to injury in 2008.

Achievements

Personal Bests

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pappas, Tom 1976 births American male decathletes American people of Greek descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Track and field athletes from Oregon People from Douglas County, Oregon Living people World Athletics Championships medalists Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games