What is the most amount of events in track and field that a single person can participate in the Olympics?

Question

Hi. This question really brought my attention. I was wondering how many events distance runners, not sprinters, can participate in the olympics? Back then, a man named Paavo Nurmi, performed 4 events. Now it seems that you can only perform two. Is this true? Thank you for your time and advice.

Answer 1

Thee is no limit but the way that events are organized and the number of preliminary rounds limits most athletes from competing in more that 2 or 3 events.

Answer 2

There is probably not an official limit but the scheduling would be the main problem. Organisers try to keep (e.g.) 5000m and 10,000 apart, but there are people who might want to double up at 1500 and 5000. Also, some of the Kenyans in particular do the steeplechase too. Although the heats (effectively semis) in longer distances can be a stroll, you can see the problem for organisers in trying to second-guess whether any athlete (it just takes one) might want to do 1500, 5000, 10,000, and steeplechase, or 5k, 10k plus marathon.

Answer 3

You are allowed to participate in as many events as you qualify for.

The problem then becomes an issue of training and (just as importantly) logistics of making the qualifying heats and quarterfinals/semifinals. Sometimes these are scheduled in different locations at the same time, and if you do not participate in a qualifying heat, you are disqualified from the next.