Steve Fritz missed an Olympic medal by 20 points in Atlanta (1996). He had finished the best competition of his life, scoring 8644 points. That got him 4th place.
The Decathlon's nice in that you get to know the other athletes. It's almost like everyone helps each other out. We're all out there trying to win, but at the same time there's a friendship there too. It's always fun going to meets and catching up with the other guys - Tom Pappas