World Heptathlon Best Progression by Event

Statistics by Yoshiaki Oikawa (ATFS/JAPAN) & Néstor Calixto

The champions and record-holders of the Decathlon have been considered heroes since the beginnings of the event as we know it today (1911) and since its first appearance in the Olympics (Stockholm, 1912). Today, decathletes are viewed as the most complete athletes in track and field. In the past, they were revered as the best athletes in the world.

Throughout the history of the sport, statisticians have compiled the world records in the Decathlon (and the women’s Heptathlon from 1981 onwards), but they have never denoted the historical progression of the best scores in each of the ten events of the Decathlon or the seven events of the Heptathlon.

Today, DecaAmerica brings you, for the first time in history, the Progression of the Best Results in Decathlon and Heptathlon by Event. We believe we’ve achieved a mostly complete progression of all the events, but there are surely some our records have missed. However, with your help we can continue to improve our collection.

We hope you enjoy these unique statistics, which are an inseparable part of the history of Decathlon and Heptathlon.

100m Hurdles
13.8h (NWI) 973 Tatyana Shpak (URS/UKR) 5922 Donyetsk URS 29.05.1980
13.5h (NWI) 1015 Zoya Spasovkhodskaya (URS/RUS) 5888 Pyatigorsk URS 12.07.1980
13.58 (+0.8) 1039 Ramona Neubert (GDR/GER) (WR) 6670 Halle GDR – NC 23.05.1981
13.53 (+0.5) 1046 Sabine Everts (FRG/GER) 6349 Bruxelles BEL – ECp/sf 11.07.1981
13.36 (-1.5) 1071 Sabine John (GDR/GER) 6005 Birmingham GBR – ECp 29.08.1981
13.18 (NWI) 1097 Sabine John [2] 6581 Magdeburg GDR 22.05.1982
12.65 (+1.5) 1178 Yordanka Donkova (BUL) 6139 Sofia BUL – NC 03.07.1982
12.65 (+0.5) 1178 Yordanka Donkova [2] 6187 Sofia BUL – ECp 10.09.1983
12.64 (+0.3) 1179 Sabine John [3] 6946 Potsdam GDR 05.05.1984
12.62 (+2.9) 1182 Eunice Barber (FRA) 6889 Arles FRA 04.06.2005
12.54 (+1.3) 1195 Jessica Ennis-Hill (GBR) 6955 London GBR – OG 03.08.2012
High jump
1.86 1054 Christine Stanton (AUS) w5596 Perth AUS 21.02.1981
1.89 1093 Marion Weser (GDR/GER) 6070 Halle GDR – NC 23.05.1981
1.89 1093 Sabine Everts (FRG/GER) 6523 Mannheim FRG – vURS 09.06.1982
1.89 1093 Sabine Everts [2] 6445 Athína GRE – EC 09.09.1982
1.89 1093 Judy Simpson (GBR) 6259 Athína GRE – EC 09.09.1982
1.89 1093 Sibylle Thiele (GDR/GER) 6309 Neubrandenburg GDR – NC 21.05.1983
1.89 1093 Kristine Nitszche (GDR/GER) 6241 Neubrandenburg GDR – NC 21.05.1983
1.89 1093 Judy Simpson [2] 6132 Götzis AUT 28.05.1983
1.89 1093 Jane Frederick (USA) 6471 Westwood CA USA – NC 21.06.1983
1.92 1132 Judy Simpson [3] 4798(5) Helsinki FIN – WC 08.08.1983
1.96 1184 Christine Stanton [2] 5700 Adelaide AUS 25.01.1985
1.97 1198 Tia Hellebaut (BEL) 6201 Götzis AUT – Hypo 27.05.2006
1.97 1198 Nafissatou Thiam (BEL) 6423 Zürich SUI – EC 14.08.2014
1.98 1211 Nafissatou Thiam [2] 6810 Río de Janeiro BRA – OG 12.08.2016
1.98 1211 Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR) 6523 Río de Janeiro BRA – OG 12.08.2016
2.01 1251 Nafissatou Thiam [3] 6806 Götzis AUT – Hypo 26.05.2018
2.02 1264 Nafissatou Thiam [4] 6819 Talence FRA – Decastar 22.06.2019
Shot put
15.23 876 Nina Golovina (URS/RUS) 5930 Pyatigorsk URS 12.07.1980
15.63 903 Jane Frederick (USA) 6104 Walnut CA USA – MSR 23.04.1981
16.23 943 Burglinde Pollack (GDR/GER) 5926 Halle GDR 03.07.1981
16.60 968 Natalya Grachova (URS/UKR) 5964 Kishinyov URS 19.09.1981
16.78 981 Svetlana Ovchinnikova (URS/BLR) 6193 Moskva URS – NC 01.08.1982
16.98 994 Svetlana Ovchinnikova [2] 6125 Leningrad URS – NCp 19.07.1985
17.03 968 Austra Skujyté (LTU) 6380 Osaka JPN – WC 25.08.2007
17.29 1015 Natalya Dobrynska (UKR) 6733 Beijing CHN – OG 15.08.2008
17.31 1016 Austra Skujyté [2] 6599 London GBR – OG 03.08.2012
200m
23.6h (NWI) 996 Gabriela Ionescu (ROU) 5782 Bucharesti ROU 26.08.1980
23.70 (+0.8) 1010 Ramona Neubert (GDR/GER) (WR) 6670 Halle GDR – NC 23.05.1981
23.64 (NWI) 1016 Sabine Everts (FRG/GER) 6280 Leningrad URS – vURS 13.06.1981
23.58 (NWI) 1021 Ramona Neubert [2] 6788 Kyiv URS – vURS 27.06.1981
23.53 (NWI) 1026 Sabine Everts [2] 6365 Lage FRG – NC 08.08.1981
23.14 (+1.4) 1065 Ramona Neubert [3] (WR) 6845 Halle GDR – vURS 19.06.1982
23.04 (NWI) 1075 Yordanka Donkova (BUL) 6139 Sofia BUL – NC 03.07.1982
23.00 (0.0) 1079 Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) (WR) 7148 Moskva URS – GWG 06.07.1986
22.85 (+1.2) 1094 Jackie Joyner-Kersee [2] (WR) 7158 Houston TX USA – USOF 01.08.1986
22.73 (+4.0) 1106 Anke Behmer (GDR/GER) 6805 Götzis AUT – Hypo 18.06.1988
22.30 (0.0) 1150 Jackie Joyner-Kersee [3] (WR) 7215 Indianapolis IN USA – OT 15.07.1988
Long jump
6.47 (NWI) 997 Nadezhda Vinogradova (URS/RUS) 6217 Kislovodsk URS 05.05.1981
6.82 (+2.0) 1112 Ramona Neubert (GDR/GER) (WR) 6670 Halle GDR – NC 24.05.1981
6.82 (NWI) 1112 Ramona Neubert [2] (WR) 6788 Kyiv URS – vURS 28.06.1981
6.90 (+1.8) 1139 Sabine John (GDR/GER) 6581 Magdeburg GDR 23.05.1982
7.01 (-0.5) 1176 Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) (WR) 7148 Moskva URS – GWG 07.07.1986
7.03 (+2.9) 1182 Jackie Joyner-Kersee [2] (WR) 7158 Houston TX USA – USOF 02.08.1986
7.25 (+2.3) 1257 Jackie Joyner-Kersee [3] 6979 San Jose CA USA – NC 24.06.1987
7.27 (+0.7) 1264 Jackie Joyner-Kersee [4] WR 7291 Seoul KOR – OG 24.09.1988
Javelin throw (old implement)
50.42 868 Andrea Findeis (FRG/GER) 5691 Zabrze POL 16.09.1979
60.60 1066 Tessa Sanderson (GBR) 5742 Birmingham GBR 10.05.1981
64.64 1145 Tessa Sanderson [2] 6125 Bruxelles BEL – ECp/sf 12.07.1981
New implement (since 01.04.1999)
50.08 862 DeDee Nathan (USA) 6577 Götzis AUT – Hypo 30.05.1999
51.78 895 Nathalie Teppe (FRA) 5937 Praha CZE – ECp 04.07.1999
52.55 910 Nathalie Teppe [2] 5959 Niort FRA – NC 01.08.1999
54.82 954 Ghada Shouaa (SYR) 6500 Sevilla ESP – WC 22.08.1999
56.29 982 Margaret Simpson (GHA) 6154 Brazzaville COD – AfrC 15.07.2004
56.36 984 Margaret Simpson [2] 6375 Helsinki FIN – WC 07.08.2005
56.96 995 Sofia Ifantidou (GRE) 5947 London GBR – OG 04.08.2012
60.90 1072 Barbora Spotáková (CZE) 5880 Talence FRA – Déscastar 16.09.2012
800m
2:09.3h 975 Angelita Lind (PUR) 4406 Mayagüez PUR – LAI 07.12.1980
2:07.55 1001 Ramona Neubert (GDR/GER) (WR) 6670 Halle GDR – NC 24.05.1981
2:06.72 1013 Ramona Neubert [2] (WR) 6788 Kyiv URS – vURS 28.06.1981
2:06.16 1022 Ramona Neubert [3] (WR) 6845 Halle GDR – vURS 20.06.1982
2:05.64 1029 Anke Behmer (GDR/GER) 6524 Helsinki FIN – WC 09.08.1983
2:04.60 1045 Natalya Shubenkova (URS/RUS) 6859 Kyiv URS – NC 21.06.1984
2:03.76 1058 Anke Behmer [2] 6775 Potsdam GDR – OD 21.07.1984
2:03.61 1060 Natalya Shubenkova [2] 6631 Moskva URS – GWG 07.07.1986
2:03.58 1061 Nadine Debois (FRA) 6214 Arles FRA – ECp 05.07.1987
2:01.84 1087 Nadine Debois [2] 6227 Talence FRA 27.09.1987
LEGEND
NWI No wind information
w Wind assisted mark
h Hand timing
WR Current World Record
(WR) Former World Record