Early in his career he competed as a decathlete.
After several years he was generally acknowledged as the best decathlete to date.
He started his career as a junior high jumper and decathlete, but focused entirely on hurdling after a shoulder injury.
As a result, he scored no points and dropped from first place to 12th place among the 24 decathletes.
In his earlier career he was a decathlete, where he set the world record for longest javelin throw in a decathlon.
He soon became a decathlete.
