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: 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. Katarina Johnson-Thompson, representing Great Britain, is the current World Champion and 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: P is for points, T is for time in seconds, M is for height or distance in centimeters and D is distance in meters. 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

Men's heptathlon

The other version 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 men's indoor heptathlon consists of the following events, with the first four contested on the first day, and remaining three on day two: The scoring is similar for both versions. In each event, the athlete scores points for his performance in each event according to scoring tables issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The athlete accumulating the highest number of points wins the competition.

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

Annulled marks

Men

Medalists

Women's Olympic medalists

Women's World Championships medalists

Men's World Indoor Championships medalists

Season's bests

Women's heptathlon

The world record as of 18/07/2024 is highlighed in yellow.

Men's indoor heptathlon

National records

Women's heptathlon

Equal or superior to 6200 pts:

Men's indoor heptathlon

Equal or superior to 6000 pts:

Men's heptathlon under-20 records

Key: ✕ = Inadequate doping control

Men's heptathlon under-20 bests

(In completed heptathlons of more than 5200 points)