Decathlon scoring table

Tests for legitimacy

Beginning in 1920, the IAAF considered, at least, the following criteria for a legitimate decathlon scoring table: (1) The table should reflect the fact that, at higher levels of performance, a unit gain (such as a decrement of 0.01 second in sprint times) is more significant than at lower levels of performance, because of the physiological limitations of the human body. (2) The scores for different events should be comparable, in a manner such that equal skill levels in different events (however difficult it is to define such a concept) are rewarded with equal point levels.