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1996 Olympic Games Atlanta - Men's Decathlon

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1996 Olympic Games Atlanta - (Athletics); Last Updated: 27 June 2019; Hits: 1579

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Host City: Atlanta, United States

Format: Scoring by 1985 point tables.

Date Started: July 31, 1996

Date Finished: August 1, 1996

(Competitors: 40; Countries: 24)

Venue(s): Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Overview by IAAF

Like discus thrower Lars Riedel, O’Brien had won three world titles between 1991 and 1995, but had not achieved his goal of Olympic gold. Passing successfully through the US Trials with a world leading 8726, O’Brien was the clear favourite. After lagging behind 21 year-old German Frank Busemann for two events (thanks to a superb 8.07 long jump by Busemann), O’Brien took the lead in the third event over subsequent World Champion Dvořák, and never relinquished first place. At the end of the first day he led from Busemann by 124 with 4592. There were five others with more than 4400. Busemann pulled to within 71 points of the leader in the hurdles with a wonderful 13.47, compared with O’Brien’s still excellent 13.87. Thereafter, O’Brien went away, and despite a slow 4:45.89 in the 1500m won by more than 100 points from Busemann, with Dvorak setting a Czech record in third place. In this high level event every score from fourth to 15th was the best ever for that position.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

Dan O'Brien had been favored in early 1992 to win the Olympic decathlon, but he failed to clear a height in the pole vault at the US Olympic Trials and did not make the Olympic team. He responded later in 1992 by breaking the world record at the Talence meet with 8,891 points. For the next four years O'Brien was dominant in the decathlon. He won the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, was TAC Champion in 1993-95, and was world-ranked #1 from 1993 to 1996. At Atlanta he won the event quite easily. He moved into the lead on day one after the shot put (the third event) and never again trailed. He led after the first day by 124 points, after winning the 400 in 46.82. He won by 118 points over Germany's Frank Busemann, who had cleared over 8 metres in the long jump, although the outcome was never in doubt. O'Brien continued to compete and was world-ranked #1 again in 1998, but injuries eventually ended his career. The overall level of competition in 1996 was extremely high. There were six finishers over 8,500 points, 16 over 8,200, and 22 over 8,000, making this the deepest set of decathlon marks posted to that date.

Records

Standing records prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics
World Record	Dan O'Brien (USA)	8891	September 5, 1992	Talence, France
Olympic Record	Daley Thompson (GBR)	8847	August 9, 1984	Los Angeles, United States

		Results

*Decathlon*	Men	Final	1 August

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	8824	Dan O'Brien	United States	USA	18 Jul 66
2	8706	Frank Busemann	Germany	GER	26 Feb 75	NUR
3	8664	Tomáš Dvořák	Czech Republic	CZE	11 May 72
4	8644	Steve Fritz	United States	USA	1 Nov 67
5	8613	Eduard Hämäläinen	Belarus	BLR	21 Jan 69
6	8543	Erki Nool	Estonia	EST	25 Jun 70
7	8422	Robert Změlík	Czech Republic	CZE	18 Apr 69
8	8318	Ramil Ganiyev	Uzbekistan	UZB	23 Sep 68
9	8307	Antonio Peñalver	Spain	ESP	1 Dec 68
10	8300	Chris Huffins	United States	USA	15 Apr 70
11	8282	Christian Plaziat	France	FRA	28 Oct 63
12	8274	Jón Arnar Magnússon	Iceland	ISL	28 Jul 69
13	8271	Michael Smith	Canada	CAN	16 Sep 67
14	8253	Frank Müller	Germany	GER	18 Jun 68
15	8249	Sebastian Chmara	Poland	POL	21 Nov 71
16	8229	Kamil Damašek	Czech Republic	CZE	22 Sep 73
17	8192	Sébastien Levicq	France	FRA	25 Jun 71
18	8111	Marcel Dost	Netherlands	NED	28 Sep 69
19	8107	Francisco Benet	Spain	ESP	25 Mar 68
20	8045	Dirk-Achim Pajonk	Germany	GER	27 Mar 69
21	8035	Jack Rosendaal	Netherlands	NED	12 Sep 73
22	8025	Vitaliy Kolpakov	Ukraine	UKR	2 Feb 72
23	7994	Rojs Piziks	Latvia	LAT	12 Feb 71
24	7961	Douglas Pirini	New Zealand	NZL	6 Sep 69
25	7873	Eugenio Balanqué	Cuba	CUB	20 Dec 68
26	7802	Raúl Duany	Cuba	CUB	4 Jan 75
27	7755	Zsolt Kürtösi	Hungary	HUN	21 Mar 71
28	7743	Philipp Huber	Switzerland	SUI	18 Feb 74
29	7575	Alper Kasapoglu	Turkey	TUR	8 Jan 66
30	7013	Beniamino Poserina	Italy	ITA	6 Nov 70
31	6711	Nikolay Afanasyev	Russia	RUS	11 Aug 65
	DNF	Oleg Veretelnikov	Uzbekistan	UZB	22 Jan 72
	DNF	Victor Houston	Barbados	BAR	24 Feb 74
	DNF	Andrei Nazarov	Estonia	EST	9 Jan 65
	DNF	Indrek Kaseorg	Estonia	EST	16 Dec 67
	DNF	Alex Kruger	Great Britain	GBR	18 Nov 63
	DNF	Dezsõ Szabó	Hungary	HUN	4 Sep 67
	DNF	Lev Lobodin	Ukraine	UKR	1 Apr 69
	DNF	Peter Winter	Australia	AUS	17 Jan 71
	DNF	Scott Ferrier	Australia	AUS	12 Jun 74

Detailed View

Athlete

	Decathlon										Points
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Points
	Dan O'Brien (USA)	10.50	7.57	15.66	2.07	46.82	13.87	48.78	5.00	66.90	4:45.89	8824
	Frank Busemann (GER)	10.60	8.07	13.60	2.04	48.34	13.47	45.04	4.80	66.86	4:31.41	8706
	Tomáš Dvořák (CZE)	10.64	7.60	15.82	1.98	48.29	13.79	46.28	4.70	70.16	4:31.25	8664
4	Steve Fritz (USA)	10.90	7.77	15.31	2.04	50.13	13.97	49.84	5.10	65.70	4:38.26	8644
5	Eduard Hämäläinen (BLR)	10.85	7.48	16.32	1.98	46.91	13.95	49.62	5.00	57.66	4:34.68	8613
6	Erki Nool (EST)	10.65	7.88	14.01	2.01	47.26	15.03	42.98	5.40	65.48	4:43.36	8543
7	Robert Změlík (CZE)	10.83	7.64	13.53	1.95	49.55	14.17	43.44	5.40	67.20	4:38.45	8422
8	Ramil Ganiyev (UZB)	10.84	7.61	14.71	2.13	49.14	14.88	44.86	5.20	53.70	4:42.74	8318
9	Antonio Peñalver (ESP)	10.95	7.27	16.91	2.07	50.41	14.35	48.92	4.70	57.08	4:37.71	8307
10	Chris Huffins (USA)	10.47	7.49	15.57	2.04	48.83	14.10	48.72	4.70	60.62	5:14.36	8300
11	Christian Plaziat (FRA)	10.85	7.82	14.85	2.04	49.07	14.52	45.34	4.90	52.18	4:35.00	8282
12	Jón Arnar Magnússon (ISL)	10.67	7.28	15.52	1.95	47.17	14.22	43.78	4.80	61.10	4:46.97	8274
13	Michael Smith (CAN)	11.08	7.47	16.97	1.95	51.97	14.78	49.54	5.00	64.34	4:43.81	8271
14	Frank Müller (GER)	10.95	7.25	14.69	1.95	49.05	14.86	45.90	5.10	66.10	4:37.50	8253
15	Sebastian Chmara (POL)	11.28	7.75	14.51	2.10	48.75	14.59	42.60	4.90	54.84	4:26.96	8249
16	Kamil Damašek (CZE)	10.86	7.22	15.51	2.01	47.35	14.94	42.66	4.90	55.84	4:26.86	8229
17	Sébastien Levicq (FRA)	11.17	7.16	14.05	1.92	50.55	14.50	45.00	5.40	64.42	4:29.50	8192
18	Marcel Dost (NED)	10.87	7.21	13.91	1.95	48.19	14.52	41.92	5.20	57.76	4:38.81	8111
19	Francisco Javier Benet (ESP)	10.95	7.30	13.91	1.98	48.67	14.36	44.30	4.80	59.44	4:36.04	8107
20	Dirk-Achim Pajonk (GER)	10.67	7.50	14.46	1.95	48.81	14.79	41.94	4.50	54.16	4:21.62	8045
21	Jack Rosendaal (NED)	11.24	7.33	13.59	2.07	50.93	14.46	41.24	4.70	63.80	4:25.98	8035
22	Vitaliy Kolpakov (UKR)	11.15	7.53	14.33	2.07	48.12	14.30	45.66	4.80	53.58	5:05.41	8025
23	Rojs Piziks (LAT)	11.40	6.86	14.60	2.16	51.48	15.20	45.90	5.00	58.40	4:30.88	7994
24	Doug Pirini (NZL)	10.89	7.33	14.75	1.89	48.56	14.88	45.34	4.60	58.02	4:39.09	7961
25	Eugenio Balanque (CUB)	10.71	6.36	14.11	1.89	47.46	14.07	41.64	4.70	59.92	4:38.97	7873
26	Raúl Duany (CUB)	11.20	7.30	13.78	2.07	50.50	14.84	38.56	4.40	62.86	4:35.59	7802
27	Zsolt Kürtösi (HUN)	11.09	7.05	14.29	2.01	50.43	14.64	43.22	4.60	54.80	4:43.21	7755
28	Philipp Huber (SUI)	11.06	7.15	13.34	1.86	48.72	15.08	43.42	4.60	51.96	4:18.15	7743
29	Alper Kasapoglu (TUR)	11.07	7.22	12.89	1.92	49.61	14.55	40.64	4.80	45.24	4:38.69	7575
30	Beniamino Poserina (ITA)	11.05	6.89	—	1.98	49.52	14.68	43.42	4.80	56.78	4:58.28	7013
31	Nikolay Afanasyev (RUS)	11.44	6.74	13.38	1.98	50.83	14.79	43.08	—	55.12	4:41.00	6711

—	Indrek Kaseorg (EST)	11.40	7.26	13.11	2.07	49.03	14.53	39.46	—	—	—	DNF
—	Lev Lobodin (UKR)	10.85	7.35	15.57	1.95	48.96	—	—	—	—	—	DNF
—	Oleg Veretelnikov (UZB)	11.06	7.24	12.66	1.95	49.65	—	—	—	—	—	DNF
—	Scott Ferrier (AUS)	11.26	6.61	12.57	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF
—	Victor Houston (BAR)	10.76	7.53	11.97	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF
—	Peter Winter (AUS)	10.85	—	13.43	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF
—	Alex Kruger (GBR)	11.38	6.55	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF
—	Andrei Nazarov (EST)	11.04	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF
—	Dezső Szabó (HUN)	10.94	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF