Is the Decathlon the HARDEST SPORT in the World?

This is a video for true track and field fans. We put the decathlon against the toughest sports and count down the top 5 reasons why it might be the hardest of them all.

You’ll see the ridiculous training decathletes endure, the sheer amount of gear they travel with, and relive the glory days of Bruce Jenner and Daley Thompson.

Learn what it takes to survive two grueling 13-hour days that could be over at any moment—from the risk of injury to the crushing pain of no-heighting in the pole vault. If you love track and field, you won't want to miss this deep dive into the sport's most under appreciated test of all-around athleticism.

By the end, you'll understand why the decathlon stands as one of the most demanding and revered competitions in all of sports.

Featured Decathletes: Harrison Williams, Kyle Garland, Trey Hardee, Damian Warner, Ashton Eaton

00:00 Intro
00:32 Decathlon vs Other Sports
02:11 Body Optimization
03:35 The Gear & Traveling
04:12 Lack of Glory
05:52 Decathlon Training
07:10 Decathlon Competition

#trackandfield
#decathlon
#athletics
#sportsscience

[Golden.Eqestrian]

Heptathlete here— I am so glad that we don’t have to pole vault.

[jenngreen]

One of the hardest aspects has to be the lack of "glory." In a sport where the winner is considered the world’s greatest all-around athlete, why aren't they given more air time?

[colincolenso]

As a former decathlete, the minutes in the lead up to the 1500m feel something like the dread of being in the trenches at Gallipoli waiting for the order to charge into gunfire. The end of the 1500 is something akin to a trauma ward. I did one in 2 days of 100+ degree heat. One of the competitors lost 12kg during the event. It's a brutal sport with never ending nagging injuries and foot soreness.
There's a kind of code to never mention the 1500m during the 2 day event as the mere thought of it is instantly demoralizing.

[rockchocula]

"if the average person trained like we do it would kill them, literally" 🤣 Totally agree. It's absolutely the hardest event in t&f, most people have no idea how insanely difficult the decathlon is. Training for even 1 or 2 events at that level is a full on commitment but 10? Crazy. Serious respect to all decathletes!

[dordo]

The real problem preventing decathlon to have more people practicing it is that not everyone has acess to pole vault equipment.

[jonahremsberg]

I’m a college decathlete right now and one thing this video does not mention is the fact that you can only allow yourself to do so many decathlons in a year especially when it comes to professional. These guys might only do 3 decathlons total during a spring/summer season just because of the mental and physical toll it has on them. Dialing in a so call perfect decathlon is one of the biggest challenges too there’s almost always something that goes south.

[maxspeiser]

"Fatigue is the baseline from which they operate" what a great way to explain the difficulty of the Decathlon

[chuckieboi]

As a freshman in highschool I did the decathalon, it was so much fun, I was able to do events I didnt get to do during the rest of the season and overall wasnt a bad experience. BUT. i placed very low, because I wasn't being competitve. there was this guy, about 6'5, and ripped, senior year, and he was a decathlete through and through. his discus was over 100, jav over 120, pole vault at 12, while running a 11.7 100. I would go through the rest but I dont remember them lol. he was incredible, but after all of that, he went to the 1500 in first place, and pulled a hamstring on the third lap. he dropped to about 70th. my heart broke for him.

[EmoneyXC]

I love how you executed this video, especially when comparing it to other sports

[JerryDream-tbex]

Ok, I'm impressed. While I still think Boxing/MMA is harder (due to lasting physical trauma), definitely have a new appreciation for how hard the decathlon is, even the training. Great video and info!

[Clemsnman]

Zarnowski’s book in the 90’s listed the avg Olympic Dec champ at 6-2, 195lbs

[Sprigster]

Great video! I have my first decathlon coming up in a couple months and am so nervous for it but excited! Get to push I body to the limit and see what I can handle

[darubra]

I suddenly want to see an event that also includes tennis, golf and boxing.

[RustyTreeMan]

It's so annoying the 100-400 track stars get most of the publicity (with PED suspicion) but the decathletes rarely get shown even at olympic level, and only 3 attempts at throwing events!

[davidhooper]

Duplantis just ran a sub 10.4. Pole vaulters usually are good long jumpers too. He might be a complete question mark on the throws but he can pick up over 3000 point by his 100m time, vaulting over 6m and jumping over 7m.

[shendovankerckhoven]

Then there is icosathlon which is like "weaknest digust me" haha. I did some deca for fun and totally unprepared, but the icosathlon scare me ^^

[yurickaregger]

Great presentation! What about Ultra Trail Running though?

[joshdanao]

Honestly I think I’m too short to try this out 😂, I’m 5’6 and I don’t think I could go over the hurdles comfortably every time

[Clemsnman]

The time needed to learn technique in so many events is a big part of the difficulty

[curtiswright]

No. Decathlon is a sport for 6'2 185 lb men with explosive strength and access to expensive pole vault equipment. You have 3 jumps, 3 sprints, 3 throws, and 1 semi-endurance event. If you take out the 110H and the high jump (which both heavily favor athletes in the 6'1-6'3 height range), it becomes a sport for athletes of all heights. If you also remove a throw and add in an actual endurance event like the 5000 you have a Octaththalon with 2 jumps, 2 sprints, 2 throws, and 2 endurance events and the winner truly would be all around athlete. The sport would be open to athletes of all body types and have much more participation.

When I run the IOC im making it an Octathalon with the following events:
100M
400M
1500M
5000M
DISC
SHOT
LONG JUMP
TRIPLE JUMP

These events can be trained at all local tracks with minimal equipment, and support staff.