Decathlon, Men

The decathlon was not on the original 1920 Olympic Programme, as the organizers decided that the pentathlon would suffice for the multi-eventers. But the decathlon was eventually added to the Programme and Helge Løvland of Norway won the event. Løvland had set a world record in the decathlon in 1919 of 7,786.92 points, although it was inferior to Jim Thorpe’s mark. He had also set three world records in the pentathlon in 1918-19. The 1920 decathlon was the closest in Olympic history, with Løvland coming from behind to win the gold medal in the 1,500 metres when he outran Brutus Hamilton by 9.4 seconds. In an interview many years later, when asked if he could have defeated Thorpe in his prime, Løvland replied, “Oh, no, he was too good.”

With 30 years, 102 days by the time he won this event, Helge Løvland remained the oldest Olympic decathlon champion in history for 100 years. At Tokyo 2020 (actually competed in 2021), the Canadian Damian Warner finally beat Løvland’s age record, winning the Olympic decathlon at 31 years, 274 days.