Rooth wins dramatic decathlon at Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Markus Rooth claimed gold in a highly dramatic and unpredictable decathlon at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Saturday (3), earning the honour of being the world’s greatest all-round athlete.

The Norwegian produced his greatest ever series to smash his PB, and the Norwegian record, with 8796. World leader Leo Neugebauer claimed silver with 8748, while Grenada’s Lindon Victor earned bronze with 8711.

The eventual podium did not feature world champion Pierce LePage, who was unable to make it to the Games due to injury, world record-holder Kevin Mayer, who withdrew on the eve of the decathlon, or defending Olympic champion Damian Warner, who failed to register a height in the pole vault.

But that, of course, doesn’t detract in any way from the three medallists here in Paris; any athlete who survives two gruelling days of competition on the world’s biggest sporting stage and finishes within the top three is more than deserving of their place on the Olympic podium.

Indeed, it was just the second time in Olympic history that all three medallists exceeded 8700 points. It’s also the first ever decathlon contest in which 10 men broke 8400.

Warner took an early lead in the opening discipline, the 100m, speeding to 10.25 – his second-fastest clocking in a championship decathlon. Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme was second fastest (10.35) while Rooth got his campaign under way with a PB of 10.71.

Sven Roosen (10.52) and Victor (10.56) were among the quickest of the pack, and Neugebauer wasn’t too far behind with 10.67.

Norway’s Sander Skotheim excelled in the long jump and produced the first eight-metre jump of his career, sailing out to 8.03m to move up to fourth overall. Neugebauer also moved up the standings thanks to his leap of 7.98m, and Rooth slotted into fifth with his 7.80m leap, but Warner remained in the lead after jumping 7.79m.

With news of Mayer’s withdrawal still fresh, his teammate Makenson Gletty gave the home crowd something to cheer for when producing the best shot put of the day, his 16.64m heave moving him up five places to 11th. Neugebauer’s 16.55m effort carried the German into the overall lead, 78 points ahead of Warner, who threw 14.45m. Victor produced a season’s best of 15.71m, while Rooth managed 15.25m to remain in medal contention.

US champion Heath Baldwin cleared a PB of 2.17m to top the high jump, moving him into eighth place. Skotheim (2.11m), Neugebauer (2.05m), Warner (2.02m) and Victor (2.02m) all got over two metres, while Rooth was just below it with 1.99m in a discipline that generally went to form. The most notable development in this event was the withdrawal of Australia’s Ashley Moloney, the Olympic bronze medallist in Tokyo three years ago.

Owens-Delerme lived up to expectation in the final discipline of the first day, winning the fastest 400m heat in 46.17. There were PBs for Roosen (46.40), Skotheim (47.02), Gletty (47.48) and Rooth (47.69). USA’s Harrison Williams was among the quicker performers (46.71) while Warner (47.34) and Neugebauer both set season’s bests (47.70).

At the end of the first day, Neugebauer maintained the lead with 4650 ahead of Owens-Delerme (4608), Skotheim (4588) and Warner (4561). Rooth, meanwhile, was in seventh place with 4459 – his best ever day-one score.

Warner, as expected, was quickest in the opening event of day two. The Canadian sped to 13.62 to win his 110m hurdles heat and regain the overall lead. Owens-Delerme remained in second overall after clocking 14.09, while Rooth moved up one place to sixth (14.25) and Neugebauer slipped to third (14.51).

Victor was the star of the discus. The Grenadian all-rounder produced an Olympic decathlon best of 53.91m to move into fourth place and nearer to the medals. Neugebauer was close behind, though, and threw 53.33m to regain the lead. Rooth produced his best ever throw in a decathlon with 49.80m to remain in sixth place.

The pole vault changed the shape of the competition quite significantly.

Skotheim, the world indoor and European silver medallist, failed to get over his opening height of 4.50m, effectively ending his chances of contending for a medal. Just moments later, Warner – one of the most consistent and reliable decathletes in the world – did likewise with his opening height of 4.60m.

Event leader Neugebauer performed well, vaulting 5.00m. But Rooth performed even better. The 22-year-old Norwegian added 20 centimetres to his PB to move into second place overall. It put him 139 points behind Neugebauer, but with two superior disciplines to come.

Estonia’s Janek Oiglane matched Rooth’s height in the pole vault to move up four places in the standings, while Harrison (5.10m) and Victor (4.90m) performed solidly to stay afloat near the top of the leaderboard.

Another Olympic decathlon best fell later in the day, this time in the javelin courtesy of Germany’s 2019 world champion Niklas Kaul. He threw 77.78m to lead the event, though it only improved his standings by three positions. Oiglane (71.89m) and Brazil’s Jose Fernando Ferreira Santana (70.58m) were the only other men to throw beyond 70 metres.

A lifetime best of 66.87m was just the boost Rooth needed to move into the lead, putting him 16 points ahead of Neugebauer, who threw 56.64m.

With just the 1500m to go, Rooth (8113), Neugebauer (8097) and Victor (8053) had already breached 8000 points. Rooth also had the confidence of knowing he is the better 1500m runner of the three. He simply had to stay ahead of Neugebauer and Victor to hold on to gold.

Seemingly paced by teammate Skotheim, whose own bid for an Olympic medal had ended with his pole vault blunder, Rooth got around the 1500m in 4:39.56 to maintain his lead over Neugebauer. The German followed in 4:44.67 to bring his silver-medal-winning tally to 8748. Victor finished in 4:43.53 to earn his bronze with 8711.

Kaul was the fastest in the final event, clocking 4:15.00 to finish eighth overall with 8445. Roosen also finished well, clocking 4:18.55 to end the competition in fourth with a Dutch record of 8607. Oiglane was rewarded with a PB of 8572 in fifth, just three points ahead of compatriot Johannes Erm, the European champion.

“I don’t know how to describe it’s surreal,” said Rooth. “It has always been a dream to become an Olympic champion. The decathlon is like an ageing event, so to win the gold at 22 is not something that I expected.

“I came here with the goal to have a better score than I had in Budapest (at the 2023 World Championships). I was in the top eight there so maybe I expected to be number five or something. And I won.”