Combined Events
One of the major highlights of track and field has to be the combined events. These competitions are the most demanding for the athletes because they get to compete in many different sports that measure different techniques and strengths. Combined events have been part of the Ancient Olympic Games and were used to determine the greatest athletes of their time. And with good reason. The contests that made up the original combined events during those days were considered practical contests. This means that each contest was geared towards measuring the skills of the athletes that were thought to be very useful in battle. These original events included running, jumping, throwing, and wrestling.
Today’s modern combined events have three separate competitions. These are the Pentathlon, Heptathlon, and Decathlon, respectively. The Pentathlon is composed of five events, the heptathlon has seven, and the decathlon, ten. All three competitions test the athlete’s speed, strength, endurance, and skill. The athlete has to be well-rounded and competent in all the games included in every competition. In the old days these athletes were the most revered, and the winner was celebrated as the most complete athlete and soldier.
The main difference between the old combined events and the modern one would have to be the point system. During the early years of the combined events, they would The winner of the most games in a combined event is determined as the winner of the whole competition. However, today’s competition makes use of a point system in which points are awarded to the competitors depending on their standing per game, and then added in order to select the winner of the competition.
