To find the best
all-around athletes, the Greeks organized the first mixed events
in 708 BC. The first Olympic pentathlon (five events) included
long jump, stadium race, discus, javelin, and wrestling. In the
18th century, competitions combining two to seven events were
held in Sweden, England and the Netherlands. A century later, in
1884, the Amateur Athletic Union in the United States created a
championship involving 11 events. Finally, in the Olympic Games
in Stockholm in 1912, today's decathlon (from the Greek deca,
10) was born: 10 events divided over two days. The women's
equivalent of the decathlon, the heptathlon (from the Greek
hepta - seven), has been part of the Olympics since the Los
Angeles Games in 1984.
The Competition
The rules for each individual event apply to the events in the
decathlon and heptathlon, except that each competitor gets 3
attempts rather than 6 in the throwing events and the long jump
and it takes 3 false starts for an athlete to be eliminated from
the races. The events and the order in which they are run were
decided in 1912. Because track and field events alternate,
athletes can recover between events. The long races take place at
the end of the day for two reasons: they are the most exhausting,
and they are more exciting than the short races, providing extra
motivation for the athletes. A day of competition takes, on an
average, 8 to 10 hours.
Athletes win points in each event according to a points table set
by the International Amateur Athletics Federation. A heptathlete
can accumulate a maximum of 9,971 points and a decathlete, 13,471
points. The winner is the athlete with the most points. Recently,
at the Asian Games in Doha the Indian women athletes Soma Biswas
and JJ Shobha grabbed silver and bronze respectively in the
two-day heptathlon event while S. Shanthi clinched the 800m
silver. It was also an encore for the two hepthathletes who had
bagged the same medals at the Busan Asian Games four years back.
In the last heptathlon event - the 800m, Soma was following the
pack till about the 500m mark, but then she accelerated, and at
the final turn, she had emerged a leader. She maintained the lead
till the end and won by a handsome distance. Soma totaled 5675
points in the grueling two-day event. JJ Shobha had a total of
5662 for the bronze.
Looking Ahead & Beyond
A state of preparedness for 2008 Olympics must start in right
earnest :
As 2007 is thrust
upon us - I still keep wondering whether the standard of sports
in India will attain a new high. As the year 2006 and the Asian
Games in Doha wore out - the country could take pride in a few
disciplines. Before the Asian Games got underway the disciplines
that India had excelled in were: golf, chess, billiards, kabaddi
and sailing. This time at Doha - it was a shade better claiming
54 medals than what we had performed in 2002 at Busan with 36
medals in our kitty. India came out trumps in shooting, tennis,
chess, kabaddi and cue sports. But the biggest question is do we
rest on our laurels or do we go full-steam ahead and focus with
better preparations and adequate facilities for the 2008
Olympics in China.
India needs to pull up their socks in disciplines like boxing,
golf, archery, wrestling, sailing, rowing, squash, hockey and
athletics where there is no dearth of talent but some
encouragement should come from the respective federations in
building up individuals both mentally and psychologically.
China's preparedness four years ahead of the Olympics was
picture-perfect when they hauled in 162 gold medals. India's
dismal show at previous Olympics has always been pathetic
bringing home either a bronze or silver. India's biggest
downfall was the humiliating defeat at the hands of China in
Doha and for the first time in Asian games hockey history India
failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
Looking ahead the
future of hockey holds good for South Korea, China and Japan who
are most likely to dominate Asian hockey sooner than expected.
These nations have gradually built up young players who are
expected to contribute at least 4-5 years for their respective
countries with sound techniques and a winning combination. On
the other hand - the Indian women's hockey team displayed
tenacity by having won the bronze. It was a remarkable
performance for the team as they earned their berth to the 2008
Olympics. Again in athletics - an inspired showing came from
Anju Bobby George, and the women's 4 x 400 m relay team - Pinki
Paramanik, K. Chitra, Satti Geet and Manjeet Kaur, Humpy in
chess, Sania Mirza in tennis and Soma Biswas, JJ Shobha and S.
Shanthi in the two day heptathlon event. All this goes to show
that women are stealing the show from the men with spirited
fighting qualities - except for Jaspal Rana and Leander Paes who
put up an incredible performance.
All said and done - India will have to rediscover itself in
order to make a strong bidding to the 2008 Olympics in China. No
one expects them to bag a haul of medals since the competition
is of a much higher level than the Asian Games and where teams
like USA, Russia, Germany and some African nations will have
guns firing on all cylinders - yet a handful of medals would
make India proud than ever before.
To find the best
all-around athletes, the Greeks organized the first mixed events
in 708 BC. The first Olympic pentathlon (five events) included
long jump, stadium race, discus, javelin, and wrestling. In the
18th century, competitions combining two to seven events were
held in Sweden, England and the Netherlands. A century later, in
1884, the Amateur Athletic Union in the United States created a
championship involving 11 events. Finally, in the Olympic Games
in Stockholm in 1912, today's decathlon (from the Greek deca,
10) was born: 10 events divided over two days. The women's
equivalent of the decathlon, the heptathlon (from the Greek
hepta - seven), has been part of the Olympics since the Los
Angeles Games in 1984.
The Competition
As 2007 is thrust
upon us - I still keep wondering whether the standard of sports
in India will attain a new high. As the year 2006 and the Asian
Games in Doha wore out - the country could take pride in a few
disciplines. Before the Asian Games got underway the disciplines
that India had excelled in were: golf, chess, billiards, kabaddi
and sailing. This time at Doha - it was a shade better claiming
54 medals than what we had performed in 2002 at Busan with 36
medals in our kitty. India came out trumps in shooting, tennis,
chess, kabaddi and cue sports. But the biggest question is do we
rest on our laurels or do we go full-steam ahead and focus with
better preparations and adequate facilities for the 2008
Olympics in China.
Looking ahead the
future of hockey holds good for South Korea, China and Japan who
are most likely to dominate Asian hockey sooner than expected.
These nations have gradually built up young players who are
expected to contribute at least 4-5 years for their respective
countries with sound techniques and a winning combination. On
the other hand - the Indian women's hockey team displayed
tenacity by having won the bronze. It was a remarkable
performance for the team as they earned their berth to the 2008
Olympics. Again in athletics - an inspired showing came from
Anju Bobby George, and the women's 4 x 400 m relay team - Pinki
Paramanik, K. Chitra, Satti Geet and Manjeet Kaur, Humpy in
chess, Sania Mirza in tennis and Soma Biswas, JJ Shobha and S.
Shanthi in the two day heptathlon event. All this goes to show
that women are stealing the show from the men with spirited
fighting qualities - except for Jaspal Rana and Leander Paes who
put up an incredible performance.