Daley Thompson (GBR) roars his approval from the Discus cage in Los Angeles (© Getty Images)
In our build up to the Athletics competitions of the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad in Athens, we recall some notable anniversaries.
On this day in Los Angeles (9 August 1984) Britain’s Daley Thompson retained the men’s Decathlon title in dramatic World record style.
The Olympic contest was a 'head to head' battle between West Germany’s Jürgen Hingsen, who had improved on his own World record just weeks before the Olympics (8798 pts - 8/9 June 1984), and Thompson, who was the reigning World, Olympic and European champion.
Thompson ended the first day (8 Aug) with the best ever first day total of 4633, 114 point ahead of Hingsen.
But Hingsen made up ground in the Hurdles, the first event of the final day. The Discus which followed was a key moment as, despite the German throwing a marvellous 50.82m, Thompson produced a very credible 46.56 in response, so retaining an overall 36 point advantage.
The Pole Vault in which Hingsen was half a metre below his best, sealed the gold for Thompson. Then after heading the World record holder by 5 metres in the Javelin to establish a 209 point lead going into the 1500m, the Briton powered to the finish line just one point off Hingsen’s World mark record.
However, Thompson's score was later increased by one point (hurdles photo-finish re-read) so equalling Hingsen's record, and became the new World record when the new 1985 scoring tables came into use.
1. Daley Thompson GBR 8798 WR (8847 - new table)
2. Jürgen Hingsen FRG 8673 (8695 - new table)
3. Siegfried Wentz FRG 8412 (8416 - new table)
Athens Olympic Games -
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LIVE 'Event by Event' coverage of the Athletics competitions of the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad will be provided as of Wednesday 18 August - from the Shot Put competitions in Olympia, and from Friday 20 August when the rest of the competition programme commences in the main Olympic stadium in Athens.
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