Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all.

The current official decathlon world record holder is French athlete Kevin Mayer, who scored a total of 9,126 points at the 2018 Décastar in France.

[7] The vast majority of international and top-level men's decathlons are divided into a two-day competition, with the track and field events held in the order below.

Traditionally, all decathletes who finish the event, rather than just the winner or medal-winning athletes, do a round of honour together after the competition.

At major championships, the women's equivalent of the decathlon is the seven-event heptathlon; before 1981 it was the five-event pentathlon.

This rule was initially instituted to avoid scheduling conflicts when men's and women's decathlon competitions take place simultaneously, however by 2024 the rule was revised to allow conducting the women's decathlon using the men's event order.

The world record holder is Czech decathlete Robert Změlík, who achieved 7,897 points at a meeting in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, in 1992.

Additionally, like women, the age divisions use different implement weights and lower hurdles.

Decathlon bests are only recognized when an athlete completes the ten-event competition with a score of over 7,000 points.

The world decathlon under-20 record is held by Niklas Kaul, of Germany, who scored 8,435 points at the European U20 Championships in Grosseto, Italy, from 22 to 23 July 2017.