Football's loss was athletics gain. Had Daley Thompson's trials at Chelsea and Fulham
been successful it's probable that the finest decathlete of the 20th century would have
been lost to the event, perhaps even the sport. As an athlete he would have preferred
to have been a world class sprinter (at 16 he was the All England schools 200m. champion)
but his talents as an all-round athlete were spotted by his first coach, Bob Mortimer
and before he was 17 he had competed in a decathlon. By the next year, 1976, he was
an Olympian (see photo above). The year after he was UK record-holder and the first
British athlete to pass the 8000 point mark for the event. The first of his many major
championship gold medals came in 1978 when he won the Commonwealth title in Canada.
He had broken the games record after nine events and eventually piled up 8467pts.
This included personal bests in the 100m. (10.5sec.) long jump (8.11m.) and high jump (2.07m.).
In the European Championships of that year he had to settle for 2nd place with 8289pts, losing
to the Russian Alexsandr Grebenyek by 51pts. What Daley gained on the running events he lost
on the throwing events. He took defeat very badly, Daley did not like being a loser, most athletes
would call a silver medal at the European championships a triumph, not so Francis Morgan Thompson
and resolved never to lose again. His next plan was to break the world record and then win
the Olympics. He achieved both in 1980 for the first time. His World record completed
at Gotzis in Austria, he squeezed past 1976 Olympic champion Bruce Jenner's record by
five points scoring 8622. He achieved P.B.s in the high jump (2.11m.) 110m.H (14.37sec.)
and javelin (65.38m.). He then set his sights on the Olympic gold medal in Moscow. (GH)
Gold at the 1980 Olympics.
Daley Thompson was never short of confidence and he had every reason to expect victory at the Moscow Olympics. No American athletes were present
(winners of 8 of the previous 10 Olympics) nor was Grebenyuk, his conqueror at the 1978 European championships. Likewise the West Germans Kratschmer and
Hingsen were obliged to boycott by their Government. But he took nothing for granted. His first day total of 4542pts., was 66 more than day one of his world
record performance, in spite of it being a cool, windy day. Thanks to solid performances in the 100m. (10.62sec.), a 8.00m. long jump, shot putt of 15.18m.
(his best ever in a decathlon), a 2.08m. high jump [(photo above)] and 400m. (48.01s) he was nearly 300pts. clear of the second placed man. Perhaps also the gold medal
run by the Scotland's Allan Wells in the 100m. on the same day played it's part - Daley's mother was Scottish, after all. Day two produced more inclement weather
- pouring rain during the morning - and though Daley was never seriously challenged he still performed close to a world record schedule. By the final event, the 1500m.
the title was his. He needed only to beat five minutes to become Olympic champion at the age of just 21. He chose to play safe and not try for the world record
a steady 1500m. would win the gold - more records could come later. The two Soviet decathletes Kotsenko (8331pts.) and Zhelanov (8135pts.) joined Daley (8495pts.)
on the medal podium. The following year, 1981, he competed in only one, weather-ruined, decathlon, in Canada and so it was two years after Moscow before Daley
hit the headlines for his exploits on the track. (GH)
Second Olympic Gold for Daley in 1984.
From the comparative cool of the World Championships, in Helsinki the year before, to the searing heat of Los Angeles proved no handicap to Daley Thompson,
he was the best and others had to prove otherwise. He duly retained his Olympic decathlon crown and thus became only the second man in history to do so, emulating the
American Bob Mathias (1948 & 1952). His winning total of 8797pts. was a new Olympic record and just one point below the World record, held by the runner-up
Jurgen Hingsen (West Germany) who scored 8673pts. Even after a record first day score of 4633pts. though, which included a 10.44sec. 100m., long jump of 8.01m.
and a 46.97sec. 400m., Daley took nothing for granted. In the second event on day two - the discus - the reason became obvious, the big Germany recorded a life time
best of 50.82m. to Daley's best of 41.24m. after two rounds, taking Hingsen into the lead. Daley, the supreme competitor, rose to the challenge and his third and final
throw was 46.56m. - he was back in the lead and boy did he celebrate! Like a caged animal he roared with aggression. (photo above).
They all then moved onto the pole vault, one of both men's best events. Hingsen could only manage 4.50m. whereas Thompson kept going higher and higher eventually clearing 5.00m. The contest was all but over. (photos above) Daley threw 65.24m. in the javelin and in the final event, the dreaded 1500m., trotted around in 4min. 35sec. Siggi Wentz (W. Germany) finished third with 8412pts. As luck would have it Daley's 10 events were later added up on a revised scoring table and his score declared a World record of 8847 pts. He thus became the first man to record four World records for the event. He still had two more Gold medals in his system but no more records. (GH).
Finale with style at the 1988 Olympics.
Daley Thompson's defence of his World decathlon title in 1987 was not successful. He finished ninth with 8124pts.,
his lowest score for for over ten years, compared with 8680pts. by winner Torsten Voss (GDR). He was not fully fit
having endured a groin injury throughout the summer and many a competitor would have pulled out during the contest.
However, Daley decided to take it on the chin and by doing so gained even more respect from his fellow decathletes
and considerable admiration from his public - even if they were disappointed at his performances.
It was his first defeat since 1978, none the less with that score he still topped the UK ranking list as usual. At the age of 29 all the years of
hard training were taking their inevitable toll in this most gruelling event of events. But he still had the goal of a third
Olympic decathlon title, something no-one had ever achieved and a year in which to repair the damage. Sadly he lost
that title to the East German Christian Schenk who scored 8488pts. to Daley's 8306pts., a total that also saw him lose
the bronze medal by just 22pts. to Canada's Dave Steen. World champion Torsten Voss was runner-up with 8399pts.
The Olympic event began reasonably well with Daley posting the fastest 100m. (10.62sec.) but his long jump of 7.38m.
was below par and he ended the day very disappointingly with a 49.06sec. 400m. (he could run sub-46s on his best days).
Day two started badly with the hurdles (14.72sec.) and when he damaged his leg in the following event (his pole snapped during a vault)
his prospect of victory further diminished. A personal best with a new type of javelin of 64.04m. was too late to salvage the day.
He ran the final 1500m. heavily bandaged from the earlier injury (photo above shows Daley ending his final Oympics) and
thereupon limped out of Olympic history. (GH)
