U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum debuts new exhibit highlighting Decathlete dominance
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - "World's greatest athlete" is a subjective term, but there's only one sport where the winner of each Olympics can claim the title without much rebuke.
"A Canadian decathlete named Michael Smith put it the simplest," said U.S. Decathlete Olympic Gold Medalist Dan O'Brien. "To run, to jump, to throw is to be athletic. If you can do those three things better than anyone else in the world, shouldn't you be the world's greatest athlete?"
King Gustav V of Sweden first made the proclamation in favor of American Jim Thorpe after he won the Decathlon in the 1912 Olympic Games. The title of "World's Greatest Athlete" has moved from Decathlon champion to champion since. The United States has dominated the Olympic Decathlon, with 17 gold medalists since 1912.
The Decathlon is a combination of 10 different track disciplines. The 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1,500-meter run. Athletes score points based on their performance in each event, and the highest point total wins.
Museum Chief of Marketing Tommy Schield said O'Brien was touring the museum when he asked if the museum would consider creating an exhibit featuring the Decathlon. The rest is history (literally).
"He caught up with Lindsay, who's our chief of content," said Museum Chief Marketing Officer Tommy Schield. "He said, 'I would love to keep a conversation going on possibly doing a decathlon exhibit. I know some historians, I know some artifacts, I know some fellow competitors, and I think it could be pretty special.'"
"I was speechless. You come down this ramp, you enter this room," O'Brien said. "This is like a homecoming or a family reunion."
The exhibit opens for the first time on Thursday and will be up for at least the next six months. O'Brien is in town to help with the exhibit opening and will be at the museum around 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.
