A month after Ashton Eaton broke the decathlon world record at the 2015 World Championships, I put together a blog post on the greatest (and completely imaginary) decathlon battle of all time.

I didn’t anticipate having to update that post quite so soon, but Kevin Mayer only went and did the unthinkable, didn’t he?! His 9126 tally in Talence last weekend added 81 points to Eaton’s world record score, propelling him into all-time great status.

Just a few hours later, people were wondering how Mayer’s series compares to Eaton’s, which prompted me to look back at this comparison of the decathletes who occupy the top five six places on the world all-time list.

I’ll once again add this caveat: obviously these guys were capable of better marks than some of the ones they achieved within their world record series. And of course, had they all faced each other when they were each at their best, then the outcome may have been quite different to this. But this is purely a comparison of their PB scores – all of which were world records at the time – to see how they compare, event by event.

It’s a fascinating (albeit virtual) contest:

Kevin Mayer comes out on top overall, of course, but is in either fifth or sixth place after each of the first six events. It’s only after the discus, the seventh event, that he moves out of the bottom two, then his pole vaulting propels him into first place, where he stays until the end of the competition.

Eaton leads at just two points, after each of the two shortest events, the 100m and 110m hurdles. He dips to fifth place after the penultimate event, but his track prowess shows again in the 1500m and he ends in second place overall.

Interestingly, it’s Dan O’Brien who spends most of the time in the lead, sitting in pole position following five of the 10 events. He finally slips out of the top two after the javelin and, as the slowest 1500m runner of the six men, moves down to fifth by the end of the contest.

Czech duo Roman Sebrle Tomas Dvorak go through similar peaks and troughs, but their strong throws help them to a top-four finish.

Like Eaton, Daley Thompson’s best events are on the track. But after spending most of day one in the top three, he slips to sixth after the discus and remains in that position.

Broken down into individual events, the competition plays out like…

After event one, 100m

1040 Eaton (10.23)
992 O’Brien (10.43)
989 Thompson (10.44)
966 Dvorak (10.54)
963 Mayer (10.55)
942 Sebrle (10.64)

After event two, long jump

2073 O’Brien (10.43, 8.08m)
2070 Eaton (10.23, 7.88m)
2052 Thompson (10.44, 8.01m)
2031 Sebrle (10.64, 8.11m)
2001 Dvorak (10.54, 7.90m)
1973 Mayer (10.55, 7.80m)

After event three, shot put

2967 O’Brien (10.43, 8.08m, 16.69m)
2900 Dvorak (10.54, 7.90m, 16.78m)
2886 Thompson (10.44, 8.01m, 15.72m)
2841 Sebrle (10.64, 8.11m, 15.33m)
2830 Eaton (10.23, 7.88m, 14.52m)
2824 Mayer (10.55, 7.80m, 16.00m)

After event four, high jump

3835 O’Brien (10.43, 8.08m, 16.69m, 2.07m)
3756 Sebrle (10.64, 8.11m, 15.33m, 2.12m)
3740 Dvorak (10.54, 7.90m, 16.78m, 2.04m)
3717 Thompson (10.44, 8.01m, 15.72m, 2.03m)
3674 Mayer (10.55, 7.80m, 16.00m, 2.05m)
3643 Eaton (10.23, 7.88m, 14.52m, 2.01m)

After event five, 400m

4720 O’Brien (10.43, 8.08m, 16.69m, 2.07m, 48.51)
4703 Eaton (10.23, 7.88m, 14.52m, 2.01m, 45.00)
4677 Thompson (10.44, 8.01m, 15.72m, 2.03m, 46.97)
4675 Sebrle (10.64, 8.11m, 15.33m, 2.12m, 47.79)
4645 Dvorak (10.54, 7.90m, 16.78m, 2.04m, 48.08)
4563 Mayer (10.55, 7.80m, 16.00m, 2.05m, 48.42)

After event six, 110m hurdles

5718 Eaton (10.23, 7.88m, 14.52m, 2.01m, 45.00, 13.69)
5697 O’Brien (10.43, 8.08m, 16.69m, 2.07m, 48.51, 13.98)
5660 Sebrle (10.64, 8.11m, 15.33m, 2.12m, 47.79, 13.92)
5655 Dvorak (10.54, 7.90m, 16.78m, 2.04m, 48.08, 13.73)
5609 Thompson (10.44, 8.01m, 15.72m, 2.03m, 46.97, 14.33)
5570 Mayer (10.55, 7.80m, 16.00m, 2.05m, 48.42, 13.75)

After event seven, discus

6537 O’Brien (10.43, 8.08m, 16.69m, 2.07m, 48.51, 13.98, 48.56m)
6491 Dvorak (10.54, 7.90m, 16.78m, 2.04m, 48.08, 13.73, 48.33m)
6487 Sebrle (10.64, 8.11m, 15.33m, 2.12m, 47.79, 13.92, 47.92m)
6452 Mayer (10.55, 7.80m, 16.00m, 2.05m, 48.42, 13.75, 50.54m)
6451 Eaton (10.23, 7.88m, 14.52m, 2.01m, 45.00, 13.69, 43.34m)
6408 Thompson (10.44, 8.01m, 15.72m, 2.03m, 46.97, 14.33, 46.56m)

After event eight, pole vault

7503 Mayer (10.55, 7.80m, 16.00m, 2.05m, 48.42, 13.75, 50.54m, 5.45m)
7447 O’Brien (10.43, 8.08m, 16.69m, 2.07m, 48.51, 13.98, 48.56m, 5.00m)
7423 Eaton (10.23, 7.88m, 14.52m, 2.01m, 45.00, 13.69, 43.34m, 5.20m)
7371 Dvorak (10.54, 7.90m, 16.78m, 2.04m, 48.08, 13.73, 48.33m, 4.90m)
7336 Sebrle (10.64, 8.11m, 15.33m, 2.12m, 47.79, 13.92, 47.92m, 4.80m)
7318 Thompson (10.44, 8.01m, 15.72m, 2.03m, 46.97, 14.33, 46.56m, 5.00m)

After event nine, javelin

8421 Mayer (10.55, 7.80m, 16.00m, 2.05m, 48.42, 13.75, 50.54m, 5.45m, 71.90m)
8296 Dvorak (10.54, 7.90m, 16.78m, 2.04m, 48.08, 13.73, 48.33m, 4.90m, 72.32m)
8228 Sebrle (10.64, 8.11m, 15.33m, 2.12m, 47.79, 13.92, 47.92m, 4.80m, 70.16m)
8224 O’Brien (10.43, 8.08m, 16.69m, 2.07m, 48.51, 13.98, 48.56m, 5.00m, 62.58m)
8216 Eaton (10.23, 7.88m, 14.52m, 2.01m, 45.00, 13.69, 43.34m, 5.20m, 63.63m)
8135 Thompson (10.44, 8.01m, 15.72m, 2.03m, 46.97, 14.33, 46.56m, 5.00m, 65.24m)

After the final event, 1500m

9126 Mayer (10.55, 7.80m, 16.00m, 2.05m, 48.42, 13.75, 50.54m, 5.45m, 71.90m, 4:36.11)
9045 Eaton (10.23, 7.88m, 14.52m, 2.01m, 45.00, 13.69, 43.34m, 5.20m, 63.63m, 4:17.52)
9026 Sebrle (10.64, 8.11m, 15.33m, 2.12m, 47.79, 13.92, 47.92m, 4.80m, 70.16m, 4:21.98)
8994 Dvorak (10.54, 7.90m, 16.78m, 2.04m, 48.08, 13.73, 48.33m, 4.90m, 72.32m, 4:37.20)
8891 O’Brien (10.43, 8.08m, 16.69m, 2.07m, 48.51, 13.98, 48.56m, 5.00m, 62.58m, 4:42.10)
8847 Thompson (10.44, 8.01m, 15.72m, 2.03m, 46.97, 14.33, 46.56m, 5.00m, 65.24m, 4:35.00)