 Combined ( or multi @-@ discipline ) events are competitions in which athletes participate in a number of track and field events , earning points for their performance in each event , which adds to a total points score . <unk> , the most common combined events are the men 's decathlon ( ten events ) and the women 's heptathlon ( seven events ) . Due to stadium limitations , indoor combined events competition have a reduced number of events , resulting in the men 's heptathlon and the women 's pentathlon . Athletes are allocated points based on an international @-@ standard points scoring system , such as the decathlon scoring table . 
