Daley Thompson was one of the best decathlon athletes in history

Daley Thompson (born 1958) was one of the best decathlon athletes in history. He began competing in the decathlon in 1975 and won every event he entered from 1978 until 1988. Thompson won gold medals at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games.

Daley Thompson was born Francis Ayodele Thompson in London, the son of a Nigerian cab driver and a Scottish mother. His father gave him the African name Ayodele, but this was later shortened to Dele, and then to Daley, the name the world would come to know him by.

Even in childhood, he wanted to win. Cordner Nelson wrote in Track's Greatest Champions that Daley said, "I just had to be first at everything, from catching the bus to finishing my lunch." And his brother agreed, "Sport was life and death to Daley." Thompson's parents divorced when he was seven. Because his mother had to work, he was sent to boarding school

His mother did not particularly encourage his interest in sports, but at the school, he grew up in a disciplined environment where skill in sports was highly valued. At first, he liked soccer, but eventually turned to track and field.

In 1973, at the age of 14, Thompson competed in his first open meet. He took fifth place in shotput, placed third in two sprinting events, and won the high jump with a height of 5'7 3/4". In 1975, he won the national junior indoor 60 in 6.9 seconds. He thought of himself as a sprinter, but in June 1975, on a whim, he entered the Welsh open decathlon.

Chose the Decathlon

"Decathlon" means "ten events" in Greek, and a form of it was a part of competition in the ancient Greek Olympics. The modern version has been around since the turn of the twentieth century. It is a series of ten track-and field events. Any athlete who participates must be an all-around talent. First day events include 100-meter sprinting, long jump, shot put, high jump, and running 400 meters. On thesecond day the athlete must run the 110-meter hurdles, throw the discus, pole vault, throw the javelin, and run 1,500 meters. 

SOURCE: Encyclopedia of World Biography on Daley Thompson