Heptathlon

Track and field competition with 7 events

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A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.

There are two heptathlons – the men's and the women's heptathlon – composed of different events. The men's heptathlon is older and is currently held indoors, contested at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The women's heptathlon is held outdoors and was introduced in the 1980s, first appearing in the Olympics in 1984. It is currently contested in the athletics programme of the Olympics and at the World Athletics Championships.

Women's heptathlon

Women's heptathlon is the combined event for women contested in the athletics programme of the Olympics and at the World Athletics Championships. The World Athletics Combined Events Tour determines a yearly women's heptathlon champion. The women's outdoor heptathlon consists of the following events, with the first four contested on the first day, and the remaining three on day two:

100 metres hurdles
High jump
Shot put
200 metres
Long jump
Javelin throw
800 metres

The heptathlon has been contested by female athletes since the early 1980s, when it replaced the pentathlon as the primary women's combined event contest (the javelin throw and 800 m were added). It was first contested at the Olympic level in the 1984 Summer Olympics. In recent years some women's decathlon competitions have been conducted, consisting of the same events as the men's competition in a slightly different order, and World Athletics has begun keeping records for it, but the heptathlon remains the championship-level combined event for women. Nafissatou Thiam, representing Belgium, is the 2024 Olympic Gold Medallist, after successfully defending her previous 2016 and 2020 titles. She is also the reigning European Champion. Anna Hall, representing USA, is the current World Champion. Katarina Johnson-Thompson, representing Great Britain, is the current Commonwealth Champion. Odile Ahouanwanou. Yekaterina Voronina, Kiara Reddingius, Luisarys Toledo and Ariana Ince hold the African, Asian, Oceanian, South American and NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean) titles respectively. Adriana Rodríguez, Marthe Koala, Swapna Barman and Elenani Tinai hold the Panamerican Games, African Games, Asian Games and Pacific Games titles respectively.

There is also a Tetradecathlon, which is a double heptathlon, consisting of 14 events, seven events per day.

Points system

The heptathlon scoring system was devised by Dr Karl Ulbrich, a Viennese mathematician. The formulae are constructed so that, for each event, a designated benchmark performance (for example, approximately 1.82 m for the high jump) scores 1000 points. Each event also has a minimum recordable performance level (e.g. 0.75 m for the high jump), corresponding to zero points. The formulae are devised so that successive constant increments in performance correspond to gradually increasing increments in points awarded.

The events are split into three groups, and the scores are calculated according to the three formulae:

Running events (200 m, 800 m and 100 m hurdles):

P=INT(a\cdot (b-T)^{c}

)

Jumping events (high jump and long jump):

P=INT(a\cdot (M-b)^{c}

)

Throwing events (shot put and javelin):

P=INT(a\cdot (D-b)^{c}

)

P is points, T is time in seconds, M is height or distance in centimeters and D is distance in meters. INT is the integer function, also known as the floor function, signifying that the result is rounded down to the nearest lower (or equal) whole number. a, b and c have different values for each of the events, as follows:

Benchmarks

The following table shows the benchmark levels needed to earn 1000, 900, 800 and 700 points in each event.

Women's world records compared with heptathlon bests

Indoor heptathlon

The other heptathlon discipline is an indoor competition, normally contested by men only. It is the men's combined event in the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The indoor heptathlon consists of the following events, with the first four contested on the first day, and remaining three on day two:

60 metres
long jump
shot put
high jump
60 metres hurdles
pole vault
1000 metres

The scoring is similar for both disciplines. In each event, the athlete scores points for their performance in each event according to scoring tables issued by World Athletics. The athlete accumulating the highest number of points wins the competition.

The indoor heptathlon is also rarely contested by women; at the 2024 indoor X-Athletics meeting, French combined events athlete Noémi Desailly won the indoor women's heptathlon with 5761 points while Jordyn Bruce set an unofficial American record in 2nd. It was labeled the first indoor women's heptathlon.

Benchmarks

The following table shows the minimum benchmark levels required to earn 1000 points in each event.

Men's world records compared with heptathlon bests

All-time top 25

Women

As of June 2025

Notes

Below is a list of all other scores equal or superior to 6875 pts:

Jackie Joyner-Kersee also scored 7215 (1988), 7158 (1986), 7148 (1986), 7128 (1987), 7044 (1992), 6979 (1987), 6910 (1986) and 6878 (1991).
Carolina Klüft also scored 7001 (2003), 6952 (2004) and 6887 (2005).
Anna Hall also scored 6899 (2025), 6988 (2023) and 6888 (2025).
Nafissatou Thiam also scored 6947 (2022) and 6880 (2024).
Jessica Ennis also scored 6906 (2012).
Sabine Paetz also scored 6897 (1988).
Larisa Nikitina also scored 6875 (1989).