Editing Decathlon (section)

==Historical background==
The decathlon developed from the ancient [[pentathlon]] competitions held at the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] [[Olympic Games|Olympics]]. Pentathlons involved five disciplines – [[long jump]], [[discus throw]], [[javelin throw]], [[sprint (running)|sprint]] and a [[wrestling]] match.<ref name=Sweet /> Introduced in Olympia during 708 BC, this competition was extremely popular for many centuries.

A ten-event competition known as the "all-around" or "all-round" championship, similar to the modern decathlon, was first contested at the [[USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships|United States amateur championships]] in 1884 and reached a consistent form by 1890.<ref name=usatf /><ref name=Zarnowski /> While an all-around event was held at the [[Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's all-around|1904 Summer Olympics]], whether it was an official Olympic event has been disputed.<ref name=1904O />

The modern decathlon first appeared in the [[Athletics at the Olympic Games|Olympic athletics program]] at the [[Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon|1912 Games]] in [[Stockholm]].<ref name=1912O />