Crossword clues for decathlon
decathlon
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
decathlon \de*cath"lon\, n. [See Deca-; Pentathlon.] In the modern Olympic Games, a composite contest consisting of a 100-meter run, a broad jump, putting the shot, a running high-jump, a 400-meter run, throwing the discus, a 100-meter hurdle race, pole vaulting, throwing the javelin, and a 1500-meter run.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1912, from deca "ten" (see ten) + Greek athlon "contest, prize," which is of uncertain origin. A modern Olympic event consisting of 10 challenges.
Wiktionary
n. 1 an athletic contest consisting of ten events which includes sprinting, hurdling, jumping, and throwing over a span of two days 2 a contest in science and math proving skill
WordNet
n. an athletic contest consisting of ten different events
Wikipedia
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin, from δέκα (déka, meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "feat"). Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not by the position achieved. The decathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes typically compete in the heptathlon.
Traditionally, the title of " World's Greatest Athlete" has been given to the person who wins the Olympic decathlon. This began when King Gustav V of Sweden told Jim Thorpe, "You, sir, are the world's greatest athlete" after Thorpe won the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. The current decathlon world record holder is American Ashton Eaton, who scored 9045 points at the 2015 IAAF World Championships.
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 throw, sprint and a wrestling match. Introduced in Olympia during 708 BC, the competition was extremely popular for many centuries. By the sixth century BC, pentathlons had become part of religious games. A ten-event competition known as the "all-around" or "all-round" championship, similar to the modern decathlon, was first contested at the United States amateur championships in 1884 and reached a consistent form by 1890; an all-around was held at the 1904 Summer Olympics, though whether it was an official Olympic event has been disputed. The modern decathlon first appeared on the Olympic athletics program at the 1912 Games in Stockholm.
The decathlon is an athletic event combining ten track and field events.
Decathlon may also refer to:
- Decathlon Group, a global sporting goods retail store chain
- Decathlon (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse
- Academic Decathlon, an American academic competition
- American Champion Decathlon, a light aircraft
Decathlon (foaled in 1953) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was voted the U.S. Champion Sprint Horse in 1956 and 1957. He was sired by Olympia, the Leading broodmare sire in North America in 1974. His dam was Dog Blessed, a daughter of Bull Dog, the 1943 Leading sire in North America.
Decathlon was purchased for $15,500 at a 1954 Kentucky yearling sale by Robert J. Dienst, president of Beulah Park Racetrack in Columbus, Ohio. Decathlon was trained by Rollie Shepp. Because of his awkward side-wheeling stride, Shepp and owner Dienst decided his running style might exhaust the colt over longer distances and early in his racing career began limiting him to sprint races.
In October 1957, Robert J. Dienst announced that Decathlon would be retired to stud in Kentucky for the 1958 season. The horse finished his racing career with a record of 25-8-1 from 42 starts with earnings of US$269,530.
Decathlon is a decathlon-themed sports game developed by C&E for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and published in 1992.
Usage examples of "decathlon".
I assume someone who's won the decathlon in the All-Systems Olympics can do that.
John's only personal encounter with a Hemnoid before this had been at the Interplanetary Olympiad in Brisbane, Australia, the year John had won the decathlon competition.
The Half-Pint—I mean, John Tardy—was a former Olympic decathlon champion.
Then I decided, for like the ten thousandth time, that I was one rotten contradictory fellow, that my talent of dissipation should have long since turned me into a slack, wheezing, puffy ruin, had it not been combined with that iron Calvinistic conscience which, upon noting too much progressive decay, would drive me into the kind of training the decathlon boys seem to enjoy, punishing myself back into the kind of fitness that makes you feel as if no maniac could dent you with a sledge hammer.
The bedroom just fitted the bed, and the rest of the floor was covered with newspapers, dirty underwear, and a couple of Slazenger tennis bags still in their Decathlon sports-shop carrier.
One gold for Jonathan Edwards in the triple jump and a bronze for Dean Macey in the decathlon.