He’s a 10... event man – Singapore’s Lucas Fun is making an impact in decathlon

SINGAPORE – There was a time when decathlon dominated headlines in world track and field, when the likes of 1976 Olympic champion Bruce Jenner – now known as Caitlyn Jenner – and two-time Olympic gold medallist Daley Thompson were traditionally dubbed the “world’s greatest athlete”.

The glamour of the 10-event discipline has since faded with sprinters like Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce stealing the limelight in the last two decades.

Such is its low-key nature that the man on the street here would probably point to the French sporting goods retailer when asked about the decathlon.

Singapore has not had a decathlete compete at the SEA Games since Lance Tan in 2015, but that could soon change with new blood finally coming through.

In April, national decathlete Lucas Fun won bronze at the Asian Under-18 Athletics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in a national youth record of 6,277 points. The 17-year-old’s effort was 507 points higher than his previous mark, set during the qualifying trials for the 2022 edition last October.

Lucas, a Year Five student at the Singapore Sports School, told The Straits Times: “I was kind of expecting myself to get a bronze medal. I knew that I was gonna break the record because my weaker events like the 400m and 1,500m have improved (since last October).

“But I was still expecting to do better (this time). My 100m wasn’t that fast and my shot put was like two metres below my best.”

In decathlon, points are accumulated in 10 track and field events over two days: 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500m. For example, a 12-metre throw in shot put is worth 606 points, a successful 4m pole vault attempt gets 617 points, while finishing the 100m in 11.5 seconds yields 753 points.

The women’s equivalent is the heptathlon, which has seven events.

Lucas’ feat at the Asian U-18 Championships is his biggest achievement to date and comes six months after he suffered a hamstring injury while competing in his first decathlon event, the 100m, at the 2022 edition in Kuwait. He was then forced to withdraw from the competition.

He resumed training after a two-week break but the injury did not heal fully and it returned after the 100m in Tashkent. This affected him for the rest of the morning session, where he underperformed in the long jump and shot put.

Lucas said: “Decathlon can be very mentally tiring. After one event, if you do very badly, your mind may still be stuck on that and it will affect the next event. We have to train ourselves to move on after each event, to give 100 per cent for every single event.”

And that was what he did. Instead of throwing in the towel, Lucas pressed on and responded with six personal bests in the remaining seven events across the two-day competition. Three of the achievements came in his weaker events – the 400m, 1,500m and pole vault – giving him the bronze.

The result marks a rapid ascend for Lucas in the decathlon, as he has risen to No. 6 in the U-18 World Athletics rankings despite picking up the sport only in 2022. His journey in athletics began in primary school where he competed in the high jump and long jump, before he realised he could excel in more events.

While some athletes may baulk at the demands of the decathlon, Lucas relishes the challenge, saying: “The fear of like doing 10 events is very scary. I think that that’s one reason why people don’t do it.

“And specialising in one event is like, you only have to focus on one, not 10 different events. But I enjoy doing decathlon even though I’ve been training alone.”

While Lucas is aiming for a medal at the 2025 SEA Games, his ultimate goal is to compete at the Asian Games and World Athletics Championships.

He added: “For now, I just want to gain experience from other competitors that are better than me, like understanding their mindset – how do they cope with changing conditions and how do they persevere in the face of adversity?”

Perhaps in 2025, if Lucas achieves his goal at the Thailand Games, this lesser-known discipline will find its way into the spotlight again.