Blog: Ace

Olympic Greats - Daley Thompson

Daley Thompson win the Decathlon Gold Medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

The supreme all round athlete who won back to back Decathlon titles. He competed in his first Olympic games in Montreal finishing 18th, but announced himself with victory in the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton.

He lost to the Soviet Alexandr Grebenyuk at the European Championships in Prague and failed to complete his only decathlon of the year in 1979, but opened the 1980 Olympic year with a World Record 8468 in Austria.

His victory at the Olympics was emphatic. He added the European title in 1982 with a World record 8774, defended his Commonwealth Games crown, then completed the set with victory at the 1983 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki. He was now the first man to hold all major titles at the same time.

In 1984 he faced his great rival Jurgen Hingsen (GER) who had taken the world record.He equalled the world record in taking gold.He also led off the sprint relay at these games.

Further successful defences of his Commonwealth and European titles followed before he was finally beaten at the World Championships in Rome.At his fourth Olympic games in 1988 he finished fourth.

Christened Francis Morgan Thompson, but always known as Daley, he later played football and then worked as a trainer with Wimbledon FC.

A Londoner, he joined Sebastian Coe's bid team which travelled to Singapore for the vote which brought the Olympic games to London in 2012.

by Ace on 08:57 on 13th July 2008