VIEWPOINT

© by IAAF The Evolution of the 26:1/2; 145-147, 2011 Combined Events: Is a One-Day Possible?

By Anatoliy Fatieiev

ABSTRACT AUTHOR

One of the most difficult problems of the Anatoliy Fatieiev is currently an Associate combined events is that the dynamics of Professor in the Institute of Physical Educa- the competition are clear to specialists tion and Sport at the Luhansk National Uni- but not so to the average fan or television versity in . He has coached combined broadcasters, are not interested to follow events for more than 35 years, held national the full competition. This is hardly surpris- coaching positions in Oman, India and Saudi ing as in a decathlon held in accordance Arabia, and has been recognised as an Hon- with the current regulations, each athlete oured Coach of Ukraine. A number of his spends eight to nine minutes directly per- athletes have participated in the Olympic forming during a programme that can run Games and major championships, includ- up to 10 hours per day for two days. The ing Lev Lobodin, who won a bronze medal at aim of this article is to draw specialists and the 1994 European Athletics Championships non-specialists into a discussion about the IAAF High Performance Centre in Havana. future of the event. After listing examples of innovative formats that have been tried in recent years, the author outlines a model that drastically reduces the time required for the jumping and throwing disciplines he combined events are among the and calculates that a decathlon with 15- most prestigious competitions in 20 competitors could be completed in 10 T modern athletics. They represent a hours. After considering the organisational very specific challenge with unique features. challenges of staging the event in this way, Although the IAAF set the key competition he concludes that a one-day decathlon is regulations for the decathlon, including the or- possible. der of the ten disciplines, at its 1914 Congress, it is well known that since then there have been many alterations to both the men’s and women’s combined events. Changes include the scoring systems and temporal character- istics of the competitions, while in the case of

New Studies in Athletics · no. 1/2.2011 145 The Evolution of the Combined Events: Is a One-Day Decathlon Possible? the women’s event there has been an addition In this context, I would like to discuss a to the number of disciplines. These changes proposal for change in the combined events. have mainly been aimed at making the com- The main aim is to invite specialists and non- petitions more interesting for the athletes and specialists to contribute, study and systemise more entertaining for the fans. ideas that could give a new impulse to devel- opment in this area. The focus of my proposal But times continue to change. The social is on considerably shortening the competition situation, the psychologies of both spectators time, which to my mind will positively affect and athletes, and approaches to sport training the dynamics of the competitions, require less have all developed. And what is more, other financial means for conducting the competi- events have become more dynamic. tions, make the work of the competition of- ficials easier and better arouse the interest of One of the most difficult problems of the the mass media, television in particular. I have combined events is that the dynamics of the analysed the facts and modelled a variant for- competition are clear to specialists but not mat, the one-day decathlon, which meets the so to the average fan. The long duration (two demands of the current situation. days) requires much attention and cannot be compared with other events, which have op- It should be noted that enthusiasts have posite temporal and dynamic characteristics. been experimenting with different formats of In a decathlon held in accordance with the cur- short-time combined events competitions for rent regulations, each athlete spends eight to many years. These have been staged using nine minutes directly performing the competi- regulations approved by the organising com- tive disciplines during a programme that runs mittees. Athletes from my own training groups from six to eight, sometimes 10, hours per day. have taken part in some such competitions: Television broadcasters are not interested in covering the full competition and the bulk of in- 1) 30 Minutes Pentathlon (1992-1994, , formation is televised fragmentarily – only parts France; Director – Sylvie Le Maux). of some disciplines and only at the most impor- tant meetings. 2) 45 Minutes Pentathlon (1998, Prague, Czech; Director – Jiri Jon). It is hardly surprising that there are difficulties in arousing the interest of the spectators, mass 3) 1 Hour Decathlon (1992-1994, Ostrava, media audiences, sponsors and advertisers. Czech; Director – Robert Zmelik). Some sports journalists have even proposed excluding the combined events from the Olym- 4) 1 Hour Decathlon (1995-1997, Salzburg, pic Games. Coupled with a general discussion ; Directors – Karin Juriga + Dietmar about reducing the Olympic programme, this Juriga). should be an alarm signal for the IAAF. 5) 2 Hours Decathlon (1995, Prague, Czech; It seems that more dynamic approaches are Director – Robert Zmelik). called for in the 21st century. This is not lost on people in sport. For many years, special- 6) 1 Hour Women’s Decathlon / experiment ists have been discussing the question of the (19 97, Linz, Austria) temporal parameters in the combined events and we have seen how other sports, includ- The best result recorded for the 1 Hour De- ing volleyball, rugby, cricket and even football, cathlon, 7897 points, was by the Robert Zmelik have successfully created new models of their (CZE) just a few weeks after his Olympic win events that are both shorter and more attrac- in 1992. tive for spectators and media.

146 New Studies in Athletics · no. 1/2.2011 The Evolution of the Combined Events: Is a One-Day Decathlon Possible?

Taking into account the fact that the IAAF It is obvious that competitions organised us- has officially recognised the women’s decath- ing my model would initially present challenges lon (at the 2001 Congress in , Can- for both the competition officials and organis- ada) and several countries have already held ers, but there is no doubt that the new dynam- championships for the event, my proposal con- ics of the competition would bring excitement cerns both men’s and women’s decathlon. It and keen competition between the athletes. should be mentioned that several women ath- Moreover, competitions organised according letes have already tried short-time to such rules would heighten the interest of and the best known result is by Mona Steigauf spectators and television as everything hap- (GER), who scored 7351 points in a 1 Hour De- pens during one day: in the morning the par- cathlon in 1997. ticipants are introduced before the first event and in the evening everybody sees the winners My proposal stems from the fact that in the on the podium. classical decathlon the majority of the pro- gramme is taken up by the field events, with a My analysis of the preparation, organisation disproportionate time for two jumping events – and process of such competitions leads to the the and . Therefore, a fun- conclusion that a one-day decathlon is both damental shortening of time is offered in this possible and precisely the variant transforma- area, with really significant savings in the two tion of the combined events that would be least events mentioned. difficult achieve and have all the positive effects required. In my model, every athlete can take a maxi- mum of two attempts in the , shot As I said above, my aim with this article is put, and . In the high to draw people into a discussion and stimulate jump and pole vault, only one attempt at every development of the combined events. Any next height is offered (or as a variant – three contributions and ideas would be most appre- attempts in total, analogous with weight lifting ciated and should be sent directly to my e-mail competitions). All running events would be per- address. formed as per the current rules.

According to my calculation, the time for holding a decathlon competition with 15 – 20 Please send all correspondence to: participants (one group) using this model would be 10 hours, including a three-hour break (after Anatoliy Fatieiev five events) for lunch and rest. This would easily [email protected]. be accommodated in a one-day programme. Perhaps competitions for men and women could be staged together on a single day, mini- mising the time required from organisers. In the Olympic Games and major championships this could be on the first day of competition, reinforcing the symbolism of decathletes as the knights of the Queen of Sports.

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