History+of+the+Decathlon

= THE HISTORY OF THE DECATHLON AND THE APPLICATION OF POINTS = The event developed from the ancient pentathlon. Pentathlon competitions were held at the ancient Greek Olympics. Pentathlons involved five disciplines – long jump, discus throw, javelin, sprint and a wrestling match. Introduced in Olympia during 708 BC, the game was extremely popular for many centuries. By the sixth century BC, pentathlons had become part of religious games.[3] Gorgos, from Elis, a town near Olympia, was a four-time pentathlon winner during the period. Another key player was Lampis, a young Spartan who was the first Olympic winner. Automedes was also a known player of the time. The last recorded game winner was Publius Asklepiades of Corinth in AD 241. Roman Emperor Theodosius I officially put an end to the game in AD 393 by closing down all the sanctuaries including Olympia. From the mid 1700s various versions of the competition emerged. The 1948 Olympics endorsed a new implication to the game Seventeen-year-old Bob Mathias emerged as the then decathlon winner, banishing the myth that decathlon was a game for the old and the experiencedathias still remains the youngest decathlon sports champion in Olympic history. A little more into how the Decathlon is scored:

Points system
See also: [|Decathlon scoring tables] The 2001 IAAF points tables use the following formulae:[|[5]] A, B and C are parameters that vary by discipline, as shown in the table below, while P is the performance by the athlete, measured in seconds (running), metres (throwing), or centimetres (jumping).[|[5]]
 * Points = INT(A*(B-P)C) for track events
 * Points = INT(A*(P-B)C) for field events
 * ~ Event ||~ A ||~ B ||~ C ||
 * 100 m || 25.4347 || 18 || 1.81 ||
 * Long Jump || 0.14354 || 220 || 1.4 ||
 * Shot Put || 51.39 || 1.5 || 1.05 ||
 * High Jump || 0.8465 || 75 || 1.42 ||
 * 400 m || 1.53775 || 82 || 1.81 ||
 * 110 m Hurdles || 5.74352 || 28.5 || 1.92 ||
 * Discus Throw || 12.91 || 4 || 1.1 ||
 * Pole Vault || 0.2797 || 100 || 1.35 ||
 * Javelin Throw || 10.14 || 7 || 1.08 ||
 * 1500 m || 0.03768 || 480 || 1.85 ||