An open letter: 20th anniversary of Decathlon 2000 (1)
Another year has almost past away and many of us are so used to the possibility of being informed about what happens on the domain of combined events that it looks as the most normal thing in the world. Sit in front of your computer screen – decathlon2000.com – and oeps! The choices are immense. Not only can you follow the latest results week after week. There are decathlon rankings from 1956 till 2019 plus 20 years heptathlon, the results of the Olympic games 1912 – 2016, World championships from 1983, European from 1978 and USA from 1996, age related World and European championships, commonwealth- Pan American- and Goodwill Games. Meetings – yes – Götzis, Talence, Ratingen and Kladno. And let us not forget the heptathlon. All together we are talking tens of thousands of results and if you count at least eleven results per decathlon (ten results plus one total) plus data (name, birthdate, date, nationality, place, wind, standing and result for one day) we come to realize there are hundreds of thousands of facts to find on Decathlon 2000.
How about tips for training, latest news, photos and videos! How about records, statistics? Lists of the best throwers, jumpers and runners in combined events! What’s the best result for the second day in decathlon or heptathlon? What’s the second best result for the first day or the tenth best? What’s the best average for ten best decathlons from one person. A list of this items? Decathlon 2000 provides this facts and so much more.
Decathlon 2000 gives you also the best up to date profiles of decathletes in the world! Not to say it’s the only perfect sports site in the world, but we can say journalists certainly can’t be better prepared for a meeting than if they consult also Decathlon 2000.
Decathlon 2000 serves also as a honey pot or a beehive for us – the bees! It’s not only food for the fan of combined events. If someone is having news – fan, athlete, trainer, coach whatever – his more than welcome to share his or her honey: knowledge, experience and discoveries. Giving facts, not from one country or one continent but following what happens in the whole world and giving this information available on Decathlon 2000 is the work of a giant, Decathlon 2000 is a titan of a piece.
The man who is the coordinator of all this data and who is responsible for all this is Janek Salmistu from Estonia. He started Decathlon 2000 in 1999 “because I couldn’t find enough information about combined events on the internet” he says. Does that sound familiar in the ears of those of us who were looking for information about results in the decathlon in the years before the 1999? Janek made it his life’s work to give information, data, statistics like no one has ever done before. It is unquestionable that there are other specialists in the world with an enormous knowledge of the decathlon and I’m glad to say I know some of them personally and I’m grateful for their efforts as well but I know no one who did it the way Janek did it. In my experience Janek is also a really humble and modest man and deserves much more credit than he receives. That’s why I send this article as an open letter, so that I can expect him to put in on internet.
Thanks to everyone who contributed time, articles and in other ways. I like to invite you readers to show your appreciation! Congratulations Janek, I’m indebted, thanks for the joy you gave us. I hope you will continue, giving us the pleasure of being informed about the most versatile athletes in the world.
Chris Vlamynck for Decathlon 2000
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