NSA Roundtable Combined Events
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OVERVIEW VIEWPOINT© by IAAF NSA Roundtable 28:3/4; 7-18, 2013 Combined Events he combined events are currently ex- their views on the developments and trends periencing a golden age in the pub- we are seeing. T lic eye and, in the men’s events, the highest performance levels ever seen. First is Toni Minichello, who has worked with Ennis’s from the age of 11; guiding her to Euro- In 2012, heptathlete Jessica Ennis, Brit- pean and world titles and personal best scores ain’s poster girl for the Olympics in London, every year except one from 2004 to 2012. overcame media and public pressure to win her country’s first athletics gold medal of the Then we have Harry Marra, the American Games, the whole process attracting unprec- coach of both Ashton Eaton and Brianne edented attention to the event for both her per- Theisen-Eaton who previously worked with formance and her star quality. Also in London, 1996 Olympic Champion and four-time World Ashton Eaton of the USA capped what was ar- Champion (three outdoors, one indoors) Dan guably the best year ever by a male combined O’Brien (USA) and the 1992 Olympic bronze events athlete by following up his earlier world medallists Dave Johnson (USA). records and world championships in both the decathlon and the indoor heptathon with a hard Jitka Vinduskova, PaedDr, CSc, is a Vice fought victory over countryman Trey Hardee. Dean of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport at Charles University in Prague and Chair Eaton won the decathlon again at the of the Methodology Committee of the Czech 2013 IAAF World Championships in Athlet- athletics federation. She has supported that ics in Moscow, strengthening his claim as the country’s system for developing the combined event’s greatest of all-time, and if the Moscow events as both a coach and administrator, in- heptathlon was missing Ennis due to injury and cluding work with Rudolf Chovanec, Zdenek the performance level was slightly down, it still Vana, Dalibor Kupka, coaches who in turn had a good competitive field and a wonder- worked with Czech decathlon greats, Robert ful story line as Brianne Theisen-Eaton (CAN), Zmelik, Thomas Dvorak and Roman Sebrle. Ashton’s wife of just a few weeks, took the sil- ver medal behind Hanna Melnychenko (UKR). Last but not least, we get an athlete’s per- spective from the 2000 Olympic decathlon To add some context to the attention cur- champion Erki Nool of Estonia, who during his rently focused on the combined events, NSA career also won European indoor and outdoor asked IAAF Coaches Commission member titles in the combined events. Frank Dick, himself the coach of two-time Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thomp- NSA: What is your assessment of the com- son (GBR), to speak with experts with special bined events competitions at the IAAF World perspectives on the combined events to get Championships in Moscow? Are there any New Studies in Athletics · no. 3.2012 7 NSA Roundtable Combined Events trends you see in the heptathlon and or de- defines skill and what Moscow showed us is cathlon in recent years? that today’s decathletes are by and large much better athletes than their counterparts in the Minichello past. As for the heptathlon, we saw that six The absence of the top five placed heptath- of the first seven placers in Moscow achieved letes from the previous year’s Olympics was total score personal bests. This was great for bound to affect the results, so it comes as no their development. Not having the top finishers surprise first that the top score in Moscow was from London in the field afforded these ladies the lowest ever to win the world title. In fairness the chance to step up without the pressure of to the athletes, however, the results at world going against the likes of Ennis, Chernova, etc. championships the year after an Olympics are And they did in fact step up. always lower for a number of reasons (moti- vation, retirements, etc.). In comparison with Vinduskova previous editions of the championships, the The decathlon in Moscow was one of the scores for positions three to eight in Moscow highest quality competitions in world cham- were average and about what you would ex- pionships history. Seventeen athletes scored pect. In terms of possible trends in the hep- over 8000 points, there were ten personal tathlon, I noted several points. First, a number bests in the top 20, a world leading score and of the athletes were faster in the hurdles. At two national and area records. The heptathlon the same time, however, they were not car- results were also pretty good, with seventeen rying over this speed into gains in the 200m. competitors over 6000 points, seven with new Second, the 800m was very quick and com- personal bests and two national records. Per- petitive. This was likely because of many com- sonally, I very much appreciate athletes that are petitors being in contention for medals going able to come close to or score a personal best into the final discipline together with the strong at the major competitions. We are not sure if it pace set by Rath (GER), which forced the top is a trend, but we believe that there will grad- competitors to respond and the others to just ually be an overall increase in the number of be dragged through to fast times. Third, we 8000-point decathletes and 6000-point hep- see that since the 2005 World Championships, tathletes competing at any given time, which more and more heptathletes are jumping high- means the competition just to be at a major er in the high jump, which means a 1.80m+ event will be tougher. Another thing we are no- performance is required to remain competi- ticing is that fear of injuries and lingering health tive. Finally, analysis of the throws shows that issues are making it so that the majority of in Moscow these disciplines on average (using athletes are choosing both their individual and percentage) contributed less to the scores of combined event competitions more selectively. the top eight placers. If we think that the top heptathletes are better in the hurdles, possibly their 800m running is better and there is a real and generalised improvement in the high jump, we have to ask if coaches are putting less em- phasis on throws training. Marra Moscow was a very good and very well run competition. From a coach’s point of view, ac- cess to all the event sites was easy. Looking at the performances, the decathlon pole vault was the very best in any combined events competition I have ever seen! The pole vault Jitka Vinduskova 8 New Studies in Athletics · no. 3./4.2013 NSA Roundtable Combined Events Nool Marra My impression from Moscow is that we are There is no such thing as optimal performance seeing a strong new generation in the decath- profiles in athletics! It is such a cop-out that it is lon. There might be a little stagnation in the top ridiculous, and those looking for such profiles are three or four but the second level, say fifth to barking up the wrong tree. You must coach to tenth is getting stronger and will be pushing the athlete’s needs. There are, of course, funda- Eaton and anyone who wants to be on the po- mental movement patterns that must be under- dium. I have to say I am impressed with the in- stood by the coach and athlete, applied to the crease in the standard of the German athletes. athlete’s movements and (this is the critical part) From a technical point of view, the results in the adapted to the needs of each athlete. You must field disciplines of the combined events, espe- fully understand what each discipline is asking cially the pole vault, are more stable but at the the athlete to do, learn the physics behind each same time the average level in the 400m is not skill and then put that knowledge into common so high as it was 10 years ago. In the heptath- sense words so you can teach the individual. lon, the scores were a little low at the very top, The idea is to coach the athlete. but this has a lot to do with the fact that the two best from the previous year were missing. The Vinduskova overall scores in the second level were okay, We believe the most relevant factor (when nothing that indicates a trend for me. considering a healthy competitor) for achiev- ing optimal performance in a combined events NSA: There is much talk of optimal perfor- competition is the athlete’s ability to be in and mance profiles in sport. These cover anthro- stay in a state of “flow”. Elite combined event pometric, physiological and psychological athletes will produce their best results in a factors. What do you consider to be the most combined events competition as opposed to relevant in a heptathlete/decathlete? single event competitions they might do during the season. Performance effectiveness (PE) is Minichello an indicator that we use to identify and monitor To be honest, as coach to a heptathlete who most young combined events athletes. is considered by some to be too small to be a credible contender, I tend now to put little store decathlon performance by anthropometric guides. The things I look for PE = --------------------------- . 100 % are excellent running speed and a good high personal best sum jump; if you have those two basic elements the rest can be taught.