| | Event type
Decathlon, Men
| Date | 3 – 4 August 1928 — 10:00 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam | |
| Participants | 38 from 19 countries | |
| Format | Scoring by 1912B point tables. | |
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.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Points | Points (1934 Tables) | Points (1952 Tables) | Points (1962 Tables) | Points (1985 Hand Tables) | 100 metres | Long Jump | Shot Put | High Jump | 400 metres | 110 metres Hurdles | Discus Throw | Pole Vault | Javelin Throw | 1,500 metres | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 813 | Paavo Yrjölä |  FIN | 8053.290 | 7071 | 6252 | 6774 | 6587 | 11.8 | 6.72 | 14.11 | 1.87 | 53.2 | 16.6 | 42.09 | 3.30 | 55.70 | 4:44.0 | Gold | ||
| 2 | 775 | Akilles Järvinen | FIN | 7931.500 | 7081 | 6379 | 6815 | 6645 | 11.2 | 6.87 | 13.64 | 1.75 | 51.4 | 15.6 | 36.95 | 3.30 | 55.58 | 4:52.4 | Silver | ||
| 3 | 525 | Ken Doherty |  USA | 7706.650 | 6800 | 6039 | 6593 | 6428 | 11.6 | 6.61 | 11.85 | 1.80 | 52.0 | 15.8 | 38.72 | 3.30 | 56.56 | 4:54.0 | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 565 | James Stewart | USA | 7624.135 | 6730 | 5925 | 6530 | 6310 | 11.2 | 6.61 | 13.04 | 1.87 | 52.8 | 16.6 | 40.90 | 3.30 | 48.07 | 5:17.0 | |||
| 5 | 519 | Tom Churchill | USA | 7417.115 | 6505 | 5685 | 6364 | 6165 | 11.6 | 6.32 | 12.28 | 1.70 | 52.2 | 16.8 | 38.19 | 3.60 | 50.93 | 4:55.0 | |||
| 6 | 847 | Helge Jansson |  SWE | 7286.285 | 6502 | 5683 | 6336 | 6111 | 11.4 | 6.85 | 13.59 | 1.87 | 53.2 | 16.6 | 36.83 | 3.30 | 41.73 | 5:27.0 | |||
| 7 | 410 | Ludwig Veselý |  AUT | 7274.850 | 6517 | 5768 | 6393 | 6224 | 11.6 | 6.73 | 12.58 | 1.70 | 52.2 | 15.8 | 35.46 | 3.20 | 47.44 | 4:47.0 | |||
| 8 | 840 | Albert Andersson | SWE | 7108.435 | 6315 | 5515 | 6211 | 6031 | 12.0 | 6.30 | 12.19 | 1.75 | 54.0 | 15.8 | 36.64 | 3.30 | 45.81 | 4:44.2 | 1 | ||
| 9 | 852 | Henry Lindblad | SWE | 7071.425 | 6210 | 5348 | 6106 | 5906 | 12.0 | 6.97 | 12.04 | 1.70 | 53.8 | 17.0 | 35.53 | 3.60 | 49.61 | 5:23.2 | |||
| 10 | 728 | Wilhelm Ladewig |  GER | 6881.520 | 6172 | 5398 | 6131 | 5964 | 11.8 | 6.73 | 10.96 | 1.80 | 52.4 | 16.6 | 30.74 | 3.10 | 46.10 | 4:42.0 | |||
| 11 | 706 | Hugo Barth | GER | 6850.605 | 6085 | 5285 | 6029 | 5885 | 12.0 | 6.87 | 11.34 | 1.65 | 52.8 | 16.4 | 34.89 | 3.00 | 52.73 | 5:04.6 | |||
| 12 | 261 | Tatsuo Toki |  JPN | 6757.605 | 5998 | 5176 | 5980 | 5794 | 11.6 | 6.90 | 11.03 | 1.75 | 54.4 | 16.8 | 34.01 | 3.10 | 45.83 | 5:10.8 | |||
| 13 | 818 | Johan Meimer |  EST | 6733.150 | 5865 | 4973 | 5850 | 5636 | 11.6 | 6.43 | 11.20 | 1.75 | 55.0 | 18.6 | 35.32 | 3.00 | 56.88 | 5:16.2 | |||
| 14 | – | Sven Lundgren | SWE | 6727.045 | 6060 | 5315 | 6010 | 5878 | 11.8 | 6.50 | 10.76 | 1.50 | 52.4 | 16.2 | 35.04 | 3.30 | 45.71 | 4:34.8 | 2 | ||
| 15 | 718 | Erwin Huber | GER | 6702.820 | 5975 | 5157 | 5958 | 5789 | 11.8 | 6.79 | 11.92 | 1.60 | 54.8 | 16.8 | 33.07 | 3.20 | 45.42 | 4:46.0 | |||
| 16 | 809 | Martti Topelius | FIN | 6642.115 | 5914 | 5077 | 5928 | 5736 | 12.0 | 6.69 | 11.31 | 1.70 | 52.4 | 18.0 | 32.88 | 3.10 | 45.79 | 4:44.8 | |||
| 17 | 507 | Barney Berlinger | USA | 6619.375 | 5839 | 4955 | 5748 | 5499 | 11.6 | 5.97 | 13.05 | 1.75 | 56.2 | 17.2 | 32.51 | 3.60 | 48.27 | 5:58.6 | |||
| 18 | 418 | Antoni Cejzik |  POL | 6356.280 | 5615 | 4696 | 5622 | 5415 | 12.2 | 5.92 | 12.11 | 1.70 | 53.0 | 18.4 | 39.43 | 2.90 | 43.96 | 5:11.4 | 3 | ||
| 19 | 726 | Hermann Lemperle | GER | 6293.755 | 5569 | 4912 | 5512 | 5484 | 11.6 | 6.50 | 12.96 | 1.65 | 52.8 | 17.8 | 36.99 | – | 41.05 | 4:41.6 | |||
| 20 | 128 | Stelios Benardis |  GRE | 6149.910 | 5417 | 4509 | 5479 | 5270 | 12.0 | 6.37 | 11.03 | 1.65 | 56.6 | 18.0 | 31.41 | 3.30 | 44.48 | 5:13.8 | |||
| 21 | 10 | Mátyás Farkas |  HUN | 6015.635 | 5510 | 4833 | 5520 | 5180 | 11.6 | 6.62 | 11.78 | 1.65 | 52.2 | 17.6 | 35.83 | 3.00 | 43.13 | – | |||
| 22 | 256 | Yonetaro Nakazawa | JPN | 5672.175 | 5029 | 4054 | 5054 | 4795 | 12.4 | 6.04 | 10.37 | 1.75 | 1:01.8 | 18.4 | 31.43 | 3.70 | 40.33 | 5:54.6 | |||
| 23 | 611 | Gaston Étienne |  BEL | 5256.625 | 4668 | 3711 | 4749 | 4577 | 13.0 | 5.51 | 9.65 | 1.50 | 1:00.2 | 20.8 | 29.81 | 3.20 | 54.85 | 4:51.4 | |||
| 24 | 829 | Branko Kallay |  YUG | 5210.650 | 4654 | 3819 | 4662 | 4487 | 11.6 | – | 9.87 | 1.70 | 57.6 | 16.8 | 32.24 | 3.00 | 43.98 | 5:50.8 | |||
| 25 | 617 | René Joannes-Powell | BEL | 5190.650 | 4793 | 3947 | 4882 | 4780 | 12.2 | 6.03 | 9.83 | 1.50 | 55.8 | 16.8 | 26.73 | 3.10 | 32.56 | 5:18.6 | |||
| 26 | 355 | Gheorghe Csegezi |  ROU | 5081.605 | 4679 | 3788 | 4830 | 4658 | 11.8 | 6.01 | 9.45 | 1.60 | 55.6 | 20.0 | 26.20 | 3.00 | 31.85 | 5:03.8 | |||
| 27 | 623 | Gérard Noël | BEL | 4606.740 | 4311 | 3521 | 4454 | 4106 | 12.4 | 5.70 | 9.95 | 1.70 | 58.0 | 19.4 | 30.50 | 3.00 | 32.64 | – | |||
| 883 | Con O'Callaghan |  IRL | – | – | – | – | – | 11.8 | 6.28 | 11.07 | 1.70 | 56.2 | 17.8 | 31.69 | – | – | – | ||||
| 453 | Howard Ford |  GBR | – | – | – | – | – | 12.8 | 6.07 | 12.11 | 1.60 | 59.8 | 20.6 | 32.82 | 3.10 | – | – | ||||
| 178 | Gaston Médécin |  MON | – | – | – | – | – | 12.0 | 6.46 | 11.67 | 1.50 | 53.6 | 20.0 | 30.71 | – | – | – | ||||
| 273 | Adolf Meier |  SUI | – | – | – | – | – | 11.4 | 6.89 | 12.15 | 1.65 | 55.0 | 16.6 | 33.43 | – | – | – | ||||
| 289 | Johannes Viljoen |  RSA | – | – | – | – | – | 11.0 | 6.85 | 10.17 | 1.70 | 53.0 | 15.6 | 28.95 | – | – | – | ||||
| 358 | Ion Haidu | ROU | – | – | – | – | – | 12.2 | 5.74 | 10.51 | 1.60 | 59.4 | 20.4 | 31.59 | – | – | – | ||||
| 184 | Gunnar Fredriksen |  NOR | – | – | – | – | – | 11.8 | 6.45 | 11.56 | 1.70 | 55.8 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 187 | Gunnar Hagen | NOR | – | – | – | – | – | 12.0 | 5.95 | 11.56 | 1.75 | 56.4 | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 290 | George Weightman-Smith | RSA | – | – | – | – | – | 11.4 | 6.26 | 10.54 | 1.60 | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 811 | Armas Wahlstedt | FIN | – | – | – | – | – | 11.8 | 5.86 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 359 | Virgil Ioan | ROU | – | – | – | – | – | 12.4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 105 | Gabriel Sempé |  FRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 145 | Sylvio Cator |  HAI | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 38 | Elemér Somfay | HUN | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 77 | Georges Krotoff | FRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 257 | Mikio Oda | JPN | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 59 | Léon Courtejaire | FRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 225 | Giacomo Carlini |  ITA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 284 | Harry Hart | RSA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 50 | Géo André | FRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |