Daley Thompson
(IOC)
Updated: 2007-07-25 21:10
Los Angeles, 9 August 1984, Games of the XXIII Olympiad. Men's athletics at the Coliseum: Daley THOMPSON of Great Britain clears the bar in the pole vault section of the decathlon. Credit : Getty Images/Getty Images UK
Born: 30 July 1958
Birthplace: London (Great Britain)
Nationality: Great Britain
Sport: Athletics
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Montreal 1976
Moscow 1980
Los Angeles 1984
Seoul 1988
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 2
Other results:
World Championships
Gold : 1 (83)
Decathlon Daley Double
Daley Thompson first competed in the Olympics in 1976, finishing 18th in the decathlon at the age of 18. He was the youngest competitor in the event. Four years later in Moscow he won the gold medal. Thompson returned to the Olympics for a third time in 1984 and faced his nemesis, Jürgen Hingsen of West Germany.
It was a close battle over the first seven events, but then Thompson pulled away with strong performances in the pole vault and the javelin. With the gold medal secure, Thompson needed to run the final event, the 1,500m, in 4:34.98 to break Hingsen's world record. Thompson exasperated the crowd for easing up at the finish line and stopping the clock at 4:35.00.
Two years later, IAAF officials reexamined the photo timer results and discovered that Thompson had completed the 110m hurdles in 14.33 seconds rather than 14.34 seconds. They added one more point to his Olympic total and he was given a belated share of the world record.
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