Athletic track and field competition consisting of twenty events
Athletics
Icosathlon |
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Icosathlon combines twelve runs, four jumps, and four throws. |
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| Men |  Joseph Detmer 14571 pts (2010) |
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| Women | Lauren Kuntz 11653 pts (2023) |
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The icosathlon, also called double decathlon, is an ultra combined events of track and field competition consisting of 20 events. The word "icosathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "decathlon", from Greek εἴκοσι (eíkosi, meaning "twenty") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "contest" or “prize”).
Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not by the position achieved.
The icosathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes mostly compete in the tetradecathlon. The event is overseen by the International Association for Ultra Multievents (IAUM), which also holds the tetradecathlon based on the women's heptathlon.
The men's world record for the standard icosathlon of 14,571 is held by Joseph Detmer of the United States.[1] The women's world record of 11,653 is held by Lauren Kuntz from the United States.
Format
Men's icosathlon
The vast majority of men's icosathlons are divided into a two-day competition, with the track and field events held in the order below.
Each event is scored according to the decathlon scoring tables or, for non-decathlon events, the World Athletics points tables. At the conclusion of each icosathlon, the competitor with the highest point total is declared the winner.
Women's icosathlon
At major championships, the women's equivalent of the icosathlon is the fourteen-event tetradecathlon. Women's disciplines differ from men's in the same way as for standalone events: the shot, hammer, discus and javelin weigh less, and the sprint hurdles use lower hurdles over 100 m rather than 110 m, over 400m hurdles and 3000m steeple. The points tables used are the same as for the heptathlon and women's decathlon in the shared events. The schedule of events is identical to the men's icosathlon.
One day icosathlon
One-day icosathlons also exist, with the same program of events succeeding each other more quickly, but respecting the one hour pause of midday between the 3000m steeple and the 110m hurdles.
The world record holder is the Belgian athlete Frederic Xhonneux, who achieved 12,363 points at a meeting in Heiloo, Netherlands, the 27th of June 2015.[2]
As a woman, the British athlete Kelly Rodmell established the best performance of all-time with 10,275 points at a meeting in Helsinki, Finland, the 25th of May 2005.
Masters athletics
In Masters athletics, performance scores are age graded before being applied to the standard scoring table. This way, marks that would be competitive within an age division can get rated, even if those marks would not appear on the scale designed for younger age groups. Additionally, like women, the age divisions use different implement weights and lower hurdles. Based on this system, American Kip Janvrin in the M35 division has set his score at 14,793 points.
World Records
Men
- Icosathlon : 14571 points – Joseph Detmer (USA) – 2010 (Lynchburg, USA)
Women
- Icosathlon : 11653 points – Lauren Kuntz (USA) – 2023 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)
This table of records is not officially acknowledged by the World Athletics but is considered by the International Association for Ultra Multievents (IAUM) as the best performance of all time since the foundation of the discipline in 1981.[3]
World Championships
EC – European Championships (non-World Championship year)
WI – World Invitational (non-World Championship year)
* Inaugural Icosathlon World Championship for Women
+ In response to women being barred from competition at the 30th World Championships, an additional invitational event, "Ico For All", was organized.
World Championship Medal Totals
NOTE: Only Medal totals for senior Men since 1990.
Indoor equivalent
For indoor ultra-multievent meetings, all competitors compete in an indoor tetradecathlon, spanning 14 events over 2 days.
Unlike in outdoor ultra multi event competitions, the number and order of events is the same for both genders.
Competitions
The IAUM sponsors an icosathlon and tetradecathlon every year at the IAUM World Championships. The 2012 World Championships were held in Turnhout, Belgium.[4] In addition, a variety of other icosathlon events are held, most notably the annual Dutch Double Decathlon, held in Delft, Netherlands. The 2015 event was held 19–20 September. The 5th European Championships were held on 6 and 7 September 2014 in Lodi, Lombardy, Italy (near Milan). The last European Championships was held the 27–28 August 2016 in Cambridge, England.[5] The 2017 event was held in Turnhout, Belgium and 2018 in Delft, Netherlands. The 2021 World championship (29th) was held for the first time in France in Épinal.[6] The last World championship (30th) was held again in Turnhout, Belgium, the 8–9 July 2023.[7]
