decathlon for women? [split]

[El Toro]

What would be or is the attendance at a decathlon only meet...a few hundreds... low 4 figures...even at Hayward they have never even thought of having one...

Well, Götzis regularly gets 5k, which is about the capacity of the stadium. I think Gaby Pieraccini's description of the atmosphere sounds like the sort of thing that PVP is talking about.

While I would never bother with the hassle of a WC stadium, I would definitely attend a separate, smaller scale combined events.

[Conor Dary]

So basically just filling the East Grandstand at Hayward.....

How do decathletes even make a living on something like that?

[polevaultpower]

If the decathlon was staged in a smaller stadium at Worlds, what kind of turnout would you get? I think it depends on where you hold the meet.

In Doha, no one is going to be there. Doesn't matter when or where you hold it. You will only get a few hundred fans paying for tickets to watch combined events in Doha.

In Eugene? You definitely wouldn't fill Hayward, but sell $5 tickets, kids free, and I bet you get thousands. Put it at Lane CC and the place would feel pretty packed (ok i have no idea what kind of stands Lane has).

In Europe? I think you could get thousands there as well.

Decathlon sells well on TV if you shrink it into something that fits today's attention spans.

Only the more hardcore fans enjoy sitting in a stadium and following all five events of the decathlon.

With the right production, I think you could turn the world champs decathlon into a much more enjoyable experience for athletes and fans alike.

But I find that all the bluster about "thinking outside the box" has resulted in very little thinking outside the box.

[user4]

For men first day add the 35lb weight throw drop the HJ, add the 400h, drop the 400.

Second day, add the 3000st, drop the 1500.


For the women, add the 400h, add the 3000St.
Add the discus drop the shot, add the triple jump.

.. there, problem solved.

[Conor Dary]

"But I find that all the bluster about "thinking outside the box" has resulted in very little thinking outside the box. "

That pretty much happens all the time!

One of the best moments ever at Hayward, and one mentioned elsewhere, was the 1978 NCAA decathlon 1500....it was running way behind schedule and getting around 10pm and the 1500 was still to run. Seeing there was no stadium lighting.....well what to do...so the announcers asked people to drive their cars on the track and park in the outside lanes and light up the inside lanes!....the stadium scoreboard was all lit up with 0s.... incredible atmosphere and one coolest things I ever witnessed....with everyone packed around the track and infield....track and field at its very best....

[ralmcg]

Here's what I would do in a perfect world (so yes I accept that this will never happen)

At our World Championships, hold the combined events at a smaller cozier stadium in the same area.

Contest the pent and the dec for men and women.

We have two hurdles, two horizontal jumps, two vertical jumps, etc. The difference in skill set between a pent and a dec is at least similar to the difference in skills required for LJ/TJ or short/long hurdles, and certainly greater than 100/200 lol

Adding the pentathlon works toward increasing global participation in the combined events.

Schedule:
Day 1 - WDec/MPent
Day 2 - WDec/MDec
Day 3 - MDec/WPent

You could do this on the Mon-Tue-Wed or Tue-Wed-Thu of Worlds.

The combined event athletes would be well served by having a small stadium filled with knowledgeable, passionate fans who can focus their sole attention on the combined event athletes, rather than a nearly empty stadium where security is making fans leave because the combined events fall between two sessions.

Each day a champion is crowned.

Then, produce a high quality 5-10 minute video per event. Display it in the main stadium prior to the start of a day's competition, followed by the medal ceremony for that event. Bam, you've hit the attention span of most of the track fans who simply are not following the hep/dec very closely.


I don't think our current system serves anyone well. The combined event athletes at Worlds don't get the attention they deserve. It can be difficult for combined event fans to get enough tickets to hit all the right sessions, and even with the right tickets, they are still sometimes forced to leave the stadium in the middle of an event.

If the meet is held somewhere that lacks a suitable second facility, I would still say do it on dedicated days in the main stadium but have free admission, or make tickets super cheap. Changing the production and staging of the combined events would serve the sport better, and adding the pentathlon for both genders solves most of the issues around hep versus dec.

Making the pentathlon a standard event also does open up the possibility for larger meets to contest it, though I still could not ever see the Diamond League making it an actual DL event.

You have a good idea. The pentathlon could open multi-events to athletes from places where the pole vault, for example, is not an affordable option. That should especially make 18.99s happy.

[ralmcg]

https://www.deviantart.com/ralmcg/ar...ents-809291309

That's the link to my digital poster of the women's decathlon events. None were from an actual decathlon and only two were from a heptathlon. The rest were from individual events.

[Fortius19]

In some Strongman contests, the athletes don't know what events will be contested before the competition.

My plan was to have the local HS track kids do this with a Pentathlon during spring break.

There would be drawings to pick which event per category:
sprint/hurdle event: 60, 100, 200, 60h, 110/100h
throw: SP, DT, turbojav, HT
jump: LJ, HJ, TJ
run, jump or throw: from the previous events not done
distance event: 800, 1000, 1500, 2000

The idea was met with great enthusiasm, but never happened (mostly due to administrative apathy)

[ralmcg]

In some Strongman contests, the athletes don't know what events will be contested before the competition.

My plan was to have the local HS track kids do this with a Pentathlon during spring break.

There would be drawings to pick which event per category:
sprint/hurdle event: 60, 100, 200, 60h, 110/100h
throw: SP, DT, turbojav, HT
jump: LJ, HJ, TJ
run, jump or throw: from the previous events not done
distance event: 800, 1000, 1500, 2000

The idea was met with great enthusiasm, but never happened (mostly due to administrative apathy)

Sorry to hear that your plan didn't come through. Your idea of a pentathlon would have been interesting.

[Fortius19]

Thanks! I'm still hoping to implement it one day