The Quadrathlon (or Quad test) is a series of four power tests, originally devised in 1982 by Max Jones, a throwing event coach for England's track and field team, to test for explosive power improvement of the national throws squad (javelin, shot-put, discus, hammer throwers). The four events of the quadrathlon are the standing long jump, 3-hop test, 30m sprint and the overhead shot throw. This series of tests were developed to measure the athlete's level of speed, strength, explosiveness, and power.

The Four Tests of the Quadrathlon

  • Standing long jump — jump off two legs into a sand pit for maximal distance.
  • 3-hop test — three consecutive horizontal double-leg jumps, taking off both legs at once.
  • 30m sprint — running speed test over 30 meters.
  • Overhead shot throw — start facing away from the throwing direction. Bend legs, then drive upwards to throw the shot back over the head to achieve maximum horizontal distance. Use a 16lbs. (male) or 12 lbs. (female) shot put.

Scoring the Quadrathlon Test

The athlete gets three attempts at each test, with the greatest distance or fastest time recorded for each used in the scoring procedure. Points are allocated from the Quadrathlon points table depending on the distance or time achieved for each activity. You can also use these equations to determine the points for each test, where D and T are the distance and time result for the tests:

  • Standing Long Jump Points = -36.14048 + (D × 37.268536) + (D2 × -0.128057)
  • Three Hop Test Points = -36.36996 + (D × 12.478922) + (D2 × -0.007423)
  • 30-meter Sprint Points = 209.70039 + (T × -36.94427)+ (T2 × 0.165766)
  • Overhead Shot Throw Points = -22.32216 + (D × 5.8318756) + (D2 × -0.000334)

Some Top Scores

Here are a few top scores in the quadrathlon, which were collected by Bill Webb and posted online.

  • Tom Pappas - 369 points: overhead 20.20m (95pts), long jump 3.40m (86pts), 3-hop 10.31m (88pts), sprint 3.21sec (100pts).
  • Trey Hardee 359 points: overhead 18.89m (84pts), long jump 3.33m (82pts), 3-hop 10.60m (93pts), sprint 3.20sec (100pts).
  • Bryan Clay - 346 points: overhead 17.40 m (71pts), long jump 3.34m (83pts), 3-hop 10.54m (92pts), sprint 3.21sec (100pts).
  • Justin Gatlin - 333 points: overhead 16.49 m (64pts), long jump 3.36m (84pts), 3-hop 10.12m (85pts), sprint 3.14sec (100pts).
  • Linford Christie - 315 points: overhead 16.92 m (67pts), long jump 3.13m (72pts), 3-hop 9.58m (76pts), sprint 3.18sec (100pts).
  • Daley Thompson - 308 points: overhead 17.36 m (71pts), long jump 3.07m (69pts), 3-hop 9.51m (75pts), sprint 3.40sec (91pts).