Olympics Heptathlon Events

Looking forward to the heptathlon at the summer games in London? Wondering what the heptathlon even is? Well, impress your friends this summer with your knowledge of the Olympic heptathlon. The Heptathalon is the women's version of the Decathlon. As you probably know in Men's Track-and-Field, the Decathlon is made up of ten events. Well, the women's version has just seven events, making it a HEP-tathlon. Up until 1984, women competed in a pentathalon consisting of five events, but in 1984 two more events, the javelin throw and the 800 meter run were added to make it a heptathlon. Like the decathlon, all seven events take place over the course of just two days. So the players must have excellent stamina to qualify because you have complete each event in order to continue on to the next. On day one, athletes compete in the 100 meter hurdles, the high jump, shot put, and the 200 meter run. and on day two, the long jump, the javelin throw, and an 800 meter run. Sounds intense, right? Well, you don't necessarily don't have to win any individual event. These players score points on each one, it's more important that they perform consistently across all seven. Fun fact, US track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee established the World Heptathlon record during the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where she scored 7,291 points. She still holds this record today. So this Olympics, impress your friends with these fun facts. Thanks for watching FitSugar TV.