Heptathlon

Introduction

A Heptathlon is a track and field combined events competition that is made up of seven events. The Heptathlon name derived from Greek meaning Hepta – Seven and Athlon – Competition. The competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.

History

There are two heptathlons – the men’s and women’s heptathlon that comprise of different events. The men’s heptathlon was introduced much earlier in 1970s than that of women’s heptathlon. Moreover the men’s heptathlon is held indoors and the women’s heptathlon is held outdoors and was first introduced in the 1980s when it got replaced from pentathlon to heptathlon with its first appearance in the Olympics in 1984, Los Angeles.

Men’s Heptathlon

This event is usually conducted for men which takes place indoor. It is a combined event in the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics.

Events in Men's Heptathlon

The men’s indoor heptathlon consists of the following events in which the first four are conducted on the first day and remaining three on day two as follows:

1.  60 meters
2.  Long Jump
3.  Shot put
4.  High Jump
5.  60 meters hurdles
6.  Pole vault
7. 1000 meters

Women’s Heptathlon

Women’s Heptathlon is the combined event for women contested in the athletics programme of the Olympics and at the IAAF World Championships. The IAAF Combined Events Challenge determines a yearly women’s heptathlon champion.

Events in Women’s Heptathlon

The women’s indoor heptathlon consists of the following events in which the first four are conducted on the first day and remaining three on day two as follows:

1.  100 meters hurdles
2.  High Jump
3.  Shot put
4.  200 meters
5.  Long Jump
6.  Javelin Throw
7.  800 meters

Points System

The heptathlon scoring system was devised by a Viennese mathematician - Dr Kaul Ulbrich. The formula is constructed to set a bench mark performance to score 1000 points. Each event even has a minimum recordable performance level corresponding to zero points. The formulae are devised so that a successive constant increment in performance corresponds to gradual increase in points.

The events are divided 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. (b – T) c

• Jumping events (High Jump and Long Jump):

P= a. (M – b) c

• Throwing events (Shot put, Javelin and Pole vault):

P= a. (D – b) c

In which P is for points, T is for time in seconds, M is for height or length in centimeters and D is length in meters. Moreover a, b and c have different values for each of the events, as follow

For Men’s

For Women’s 

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

Scoring

The Competitors earn points for their performance in each discipline and the overall winner is the athlete who scores the most points.

Men’s World Records compared with heptathlon bests 

Source: Wikipedia (*WR - World Record, *HB - Heptathlon Best)

Women’s World Records compared with heptathlon bests

Source: Wikipedia (*WR - World Record, *HB - Heptathlon Best)