What is the Heptathlon?

There are 10 hurdles over 100 meters. The distance from the starting line to the first hurdle is 13 meters. The distance between the hurdles is 8.5 meters. The distance from the last hurdle to the finish line is 10.5 meters.

The high jump involves jumping over a rigid bar onto a soft landing mat. The bar continues to go up 3cm at a time until all athletes have been eliminated. An athlete remains in the competition until she has three consecutive misses.

A women's shot has a mass of four kilograms. This event requires the most strength of the seven disciplines. Athletes who specialize in the shot put often use a rotational technique to hurl the ball, but heptathletes almost exclusively use a linear technique called a ‘glide’.

Half a lap around a standard outdoor track. The first half of the race is run on the curve, and the second half is run on the home straight.

The long jump involves running at very high speeds and launching one's body into a sand landing area. The athlete must take off from behind the designated takeoff line, otherwise the attempt will result in a foul.

The women's javelin has a mass of 600 grams and a length between 220 and 230 centimeters. It is arguably the discipline that is the hardest on the athlete's body.

Two laps around a standard track, this seventh and final event is effectively a half-mile race. It requires not only the endurance to finish the race, but the endurance to finish the race at the end of two very difficult days. This was my wife's best event. She won this discipline at the Olympic Games.