Daley Thompson
Great Britain
Track & Field (Decathlon)
B: July 30, 1958
1980 & 1984 Olympic Champion
Thompson celebrated his 18th birthday by finishing 18th at the 1976 Olympics. After ranking fourth in the world in 1977, in 1978, Thompson won the Commonwealth Games and was second in the European Championships to rank third in the world. Starting in 1980, Thompson was undefeated for the next seven season, capturing his first gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and setting a world record of 8,648 in Gotzis. Thompson set two world records in 1982, with 8,730 points at Gotzis and 8,744 points to win the European Championships. He captured the Commonwealth Games in 1982 and the World Championships in 1983. At the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Thompson outdueled world record holder Jurgen Hingsen of West Germany to become only the second man to repeat as decathlon gold medalist. The morning after winning the gold, he ran the leadoff leg on the British 4x100 meter relay team which eventually finished in seventh place. In the decathlon, Thompson eased up at the finish of the 1500 meters, missing Hingsen's world record by one point. However, the following year when the photo of the finish of the 110 meter hurdles was examined more closely, it was determined the Thompson should have been credited with a time one-hundredth of a second faster which resulted in one more point, tying the world record. New scoring charts were devised for the decathlon for 1985, and Thompson's score was retroactively superior to Hingsen's giving Daley the world record of 8,847 points. Thompson enjoyed another superlative season in 1986, winning the European Championships and capturing a bronze medal in the relay as well as winning a Commonwealth Games gold in the decathlon and silver in the relay. Thompson was seventh at the 1987 World Championships and fourth in his final Olympic Games in 1988.SUPERSTARS RECORD
EVENT |
PLACE | POINTS | MONEY | EVENT WINS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 U.K. Superteams | 1 |
£500 |
||
| 1980 U.K. Heat 1 | 1 |
N/A |
N/A |
Basketball, Shooting |
| 1980 U.K. Final | 3 |
32 1/2 |
£1,500 |
Weight Lifting |
| 1982 U.K. Superteams Heat 2 | 1 |
N/A |
||
| 1982 U.K. Superteams Final | 1 |
N/A |
||
| TOTALS | 32 1/2 |
£2,000 |
3 |
PERSONAL BESTS
| Weight Lifting - Clean & Jerk | 122.5 |
1980 U.K. Final |
| Gym Test - Parallel Bar Dips | 52 |
1980 U.K. Heat 1 |
| Gym Test - Squat Thrusts | 78 |
1982 U.K. Superteams Final |
| Gym Test - Dips + Thrusts | 119 |
1980 U.K. Final |
| Basketball | 5 - 37.7 |
1980 U.K. Final |
| Shooting - Rifle | 32 |
1980 U.K. Final |
| Kayaking - 125 Meters | 34.0 |
1980 U.K. Heat 1 |
| Cycling - 250 Meters | 25.6 |
1982 U.K. Superteams Final |
| Cycling - 500 Meters | 34.2 |
1980 U.K. Final |
| Points Scored (8 of 10 events) | 32 1/2 |
1980 U.K. Final |