Preparing and training for any Olympic event comes with high responsibility, tons of discipline and a physical toll that the average person does not understand. But for a woman to compete in multiple events that require a mastery of different skill sets in each competition is beyond impressive.
It takes extraordinary athletes to compete in the heptathlon, a women-based competition that involves participating in seven events at the Summer Games.
Those events include the 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 meters, long jump, javelin throw and 800 meters. The women competing in the heptathlon must be extremely versatile, acrobatic, powerful and strong.
Here's a breakdown and order of the combined events that take place in the heptathlon.
What is a heptathlon?
The heptahlon is a competition done by women only that consists of a total of seven events. The event was established in the 1980s and was first implemented in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
What events are in the heptathlon?
The events in the heptathlon include the 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 meters, long jump, javelin throw and 800 meters.
How does a heptathlon work in Olympics?
The seven events in the heptathlon are spread out over two days at the Olympics. The 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meter events take place on Day 1. The long jump, javelin throw and 800 meters take place on Day 2.
Olympians competing in the heptathlon are judged based on their performance in the respective sports associated with the event. The woman who accumulates the most overall points from the seven events will win the all-around competition.
Points are awarded for each competitor based on time, height and distance. The points are filed into a heptathlon table. To qualify for heptathlon ranking, the woman must start and make the trials in all seven events.
Each event has a minimum standard performance level that differentiates across each sport. For a woman to record 1000 points in each event in the heptathlon, she would have to generate the following results:
- 100m hurdles: 13.85 seconds
- High jump: 1.82m
- Shot put: 17.07m
- 200 meters: 23.80 seconds
- Long jump: 6.48m
- Javelin throw: 57.18m
- 800 meters: 2:07:63 minutes
History of the heptathlon in Olympics
Before the heptathlon existed, women competed in the pentathlon. The five-discipline event was part of the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan. The original pentathlon–beginning in Greece–consisted of the long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, a foot race (stadion) and wrestling.
The heptathlon began in the 1980s and made its Olympic debut at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Several countries such as Germany, Great Britain and the USA have produced a long line of success in the heptathlon competition.
The first International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) record of the heptathlon was recorded by American Jane Frederick, who notched 6104 points in 1981. However, Liesl Albert recorded the first unofficial points table, notching 5654 points in 1978.
American Jackie Joyner-Kersee and East Germany’s Ramona Neubuert are considered two of the greatest heptathletes in Olympics history. Joyner-Kersee captured consecutive titles at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, and Barcelona, Spain respectively. She also won two World Championships in 1987 and 1993.
Joyner-Kersee’s 1988 world record (7291 points) still sits as the highest all-time heptathlon score. Other noteworthy heptathletes include Belgium’s Nafi Thiam–who won two gold medals at the 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021–British Olympians Denise Lewis, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson and American Anna Hall.
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