Decathlon, Men

Paavo Yrjölä’s victory at the 1928 decathlon was achieved with a world record of 8,053.290 points on the 1912B tables. Allowing for the conversion from the earlier tables, it was the first world record to better the hallowed mark of Jim Thorpe from the 1912 Olympics. Yrjölä won three of the 10 events, but did not take the lead until the discus throw. His heat of the 110 hurdles had to be re-run after it was noted that the hurdles had been spaced incorrectly. His lead was minimal through eight events (the pole vault), but he won the javelin throw, and among the leaders had the fastest time in the 1,500 to pull ahead for the victory. His teammate Akilles Järvinen finished second, while three Americans placed 3rd, 4th, and 5th, led by bronze medalist Ken Doherty, the 1928-29 US champion.