|
Daley
Thompson
In the early 1980s many people maintained that Daley Thompson was the most versatile and eminent athlete of the world.
 The British decathlete was born in London, in July of 1958, from a Nigerian father and a Scottish mother. Since his adolescence he had excelled in national organizations making many people believe that he would have a brilliant future in sport. He showed his exceptional skills at the age of 16, when he participated for the first time in the decathlon games, at the open championship of Wales in 1974. Two years later he earned a place in the Olympic delegation of Britain for the Montreal Olympics, but did not win any particular distinction. He placed 18th being only 18 years old. His participation in the 1976 Olympics was an important experience that was to contribute greatly to the development of his athletic career.
In 1978 he was first winner in the Commonwealth Games winning his first notable gold medal. In the same year he won the silver medal in the Pan-European games. Two years later, by then a renowned decathlete, he won the West German Guido Kratschmer, who had won the silver medal in the Montreal Olympics and would be his main adversary in the Moscow Games, had West Germany not be absent. With this victory he set his first world record and won the "title" of the first favourite for the Olympic organization that would be held that same year.
The Olympic Games of 1980 were the greatest moment in the athletic course of Daley Thompson. He became an Olympic winner for the first time in the decathlon gathering 8,495 points and leaving his two Soviet opponents behind. A few months later, he became once again holder of the world record. His reputation as best decathlete was confirmed once more, when he won the gold medal in the Pan-European games held in Athens two years later.
|
