Whoever wins the Olympic decathlon gets the title of “World's Greatest Athlete.” That’s a tradition going back to the 1912 Stockholm Games, when King Gustav V of Sweden told gold-medalist Jim Thorpe, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.” (Thorpe reportedly replied, “Thanks, king.”) The phrase stuck after Caitlyn Jenner (then Bruce) won in 1976 in Montreal and graced Wheaties boxes.
Without taking anything away from the indomitable Damian Warner — Canada’s first ever Olympic decathlon champion—can we still say, knowing what we know about human athletic performance, that there isn’t someone in some other sport who might more rightly claim the title?
Four experts weight in from different perspectives:
Ira Jacobs, professor of exercise physiology
Carl Georgevski, U of T track & field head coach (and three-time former Olympic coach).
Byron MacDonald, Varsity Blues swim coach
Robert Bentley, assistant professor of cardiovascular physiology
So, is the decathlon the perfect metric of all-round fitness?
Ira Jacobs: For sure, the decathlon’s a great test of explosive power and some sustained effort. But I think there are many sports that require just as broad of a fitness base (spanning aerobic and anaerobic performance) as decathletes, if not broader. Even the longest event in the decathlon comes nowhere near the aerobic fitness demands and performance duration of many team sports. I’d put basketball right up there near the top in terms of aerobic fitness, muscular endurance, explosive power, motor coordination. Even executive function—meaning, the thinking and split-second decisions that need to be taken mid-stride, or in the air, to compensate for something expected, like an opponent who comes out of nowhere.
So maybe Giannis Antetokounmpo makes the Wheaties box?
Carl Georgevski: I agree with Ira that the amount of running and jumping basketball players do taxes all the body systems.
But think about the decathlon. Three speed-running events: 100, 400, 110-metre hurdles. Three jumps: long jump, high jump and pole vault. Three throws: shot put, discus, javelin. And one middle-distance event – the 1500m— that decathletes will passionately argue feels like a marathon after you’ve done the other nine! Each event is unique. Each demands a different set of physical skills. Just take the pole vault all by itself for a second: To vault high you not only have to be fast like a sprinter but also have the strength and body control of a gymnast — to get completely upside-down and do a one-arm handstand at the top end.
Every athlete has their own event-area strength but can never neglect their weaker area. If we look at Damian, his 100-m and long jump are world-class. His 8.24 long jump would have earned him a bronze in the open category!
Byron, want to make the case for swimmers?
Byron MacDonald: Well, it’s tricky. The key to this whole discussion is the need to eliminate any subjectivity—as everyone may have a different idea of how to rate someone’s performance. To definitively rank athletes, it has to be totally objective. And we’d have to take a snapshot in time. That would really eliminate all team sports as there are way too many variables in a short span (would you rank a hockey player based on one shift?). For that reason, decathlon may indeed be one of the best ways to do so. Its tasks are measurable. And it’s basically one attempt.
Regarding swimmers, it’s a question of fair comparison. Much of the world does not have the opportunity to swim; but everyone can run. Sure, some of the decathlon events demand further coaching, but many are basically exercises that everyone, for the most part, can do.
Robert, you’re a cardio expert. Given that persistence hunting helped determine our survival as a species, maybe you’d favour endurance athletes?
Robert Bentley: Indeed, when we think of aerobic fitness (VO2max), cross-country skiers like Bjørn Dæhlie and cyclists like Oskar Svendsen (interestingly both Norwegian), are remarkable examples. Both of these individuals had VO2max values reportedly above 95 ml/kg/min. For some context, an average young adult male may be between 40-45 ml/kg/min. Elite endurance athletes, with years and often decades of endurance training have remodeled and enlarged heart chambers that can pump up to 60% more blood compared to healthy individuals at peak exercise. Combined with vascular adaptations, these individuals can deliver lots of oxygen to working skeletal muscles, which contributes, in part, to their extraordinary endurance capacity. (It is noteworthy that while Bjørn experienced tremendous individual sporting success, Oskar did not, suggesting there is more to sporting success than fitness.)
Are there sports we’re overlooking?
Ira Jacobs: Bandy. Look it up. [A Scandinavian game, like ball hockey on ice.] I tried it once when I lived in Sweden when I was in my late 20’s and the fitness demands are extraordinary. Maybe that is why it’s not very popular, and, ahem, why I only played once.
What about newer sports that didn’t even exist when the decathlon was hatched?
Robert Bentley: The winner of the CrossFit Games has the title of “Fittest on Earth.” This type of exercise is extremely high intensity combining aerobic and anaerobic energy systems across a spectrum of functional movements – including Olympic weightlifting. Without getting into potential controversies surrounding the nature and completion of CrossFit movements, individuals capable of completing these exercises on the world stage are, without a doubt, elite, high-level athletes. But then an important question is: how do we define “athlete”?
So what's the final verdict?
Carl Georgevski: Each sport has its own sense of beauty and special physical and psychological demands. The overall gymnast. The football wide receiver who has the grace, agility and endurance of Baryshnikov, the leaping ability of a high jumper and the speed of a sprinter.
Ira Jacobs: Two university academics and two university head coaches — each with their informed perspectives about human performance capacities and limitations. You weren’t really expecting a consensus, were you?