Wikipedia

Garrett Scantling

Garrett Scantling (born May 19, 1993) is an American decathlete. He finished fourth at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in the decathlon, after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. He later also won the national decathlon title at the 2026 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[1]

Garrett Scantling
Personal information
Born (1993-05-19) May 19, 1993 (age 33)
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight210 lb (95 kg)
Sport
CountryUnited States
SportAthletics (Track & Field)
Event
Decathlon
Achievements and titles
Personal bestsDecathlon: 8,867 (2022)
Heptathlon: 6,469 (2022)

Early and personal life

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Scantling is the son of Michael and Robby Scantling and the younger brother of Hunter Scantling, a former minor league pitcher in the Detroit Tigers organization. He attended Hendricks Day School in Jacksonville and graduated from Episcopal School of Jacksonville in 2011, competing in both football and track.[2] Scantling later returned to coach track, football and weightlifting at the school during his three-year whereabouts suspension.[3]

Career

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High school

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Scantling caught 66 receptions for more than 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior wide receiver at Episcopal, and set a number of school records in track.[4]

College

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He went on to compete in track and field at the University of Georgia, where he earned first-team All-American honors from 2012-2015. He won the 2015 NCAA indoor heptathlon and finished fourth in the decathlon at the U.S. Olympic Trials, failing to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games.[5]

NFL

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In 2017, Scantling signed a free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons as a wide receiver but did not make the active roster.[5] He also worked out briefly with the Jacksonville Jaguars.[6]

Olympics

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In 2019, Scantling left his financial services job in Jacksonville and moved to Athens, Georgia, to train with his former college coach, Petros Kyprianou, and concentrate on the decathlon again. At his first indoor competition in January 2020, he scored a heptathlon personal best of 6,110 points and followed that up with another personal best of 6,209 to win the U.S. Indoor Championships at Annapolis in 2020.[7][8]

In April 2021, in his first decathlon competition in nearly five years, he set another personal best with 8,476 points, including a long jump of 7.56 meters and a shot put of 16.20 meters, at a meet in Athens, Greece.[9] He won the decathlon at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon in June 2021, scoring 8,647 points.[10] At the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics held in August 2021, he finished fourth, scoring 8,611 points,[11] including a personal best in the 400 metres[12] and the 1500 metres.[13]

Scantling scored 8,867 points to win the decathlon title at the 2022 USA Combined Events Championships in Fayetteville on 7 May 2022.[3][14] However, in July 2022, Scantling was given a provisional suspension for anti-doping whereabouts and tampering violations.[15] In November 2022, he was banned from competing for three years backdated to June 27, 2022, the date of his third whereabouts violation in a twelve-month period.[16]

Returning to competition in June 2025, he took part in the decathlon at the 2025 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships but did not complete the event.[17] In 2025, he was hired as an assistant coach to Petros Kyprianou at the University of Illinois, with Kyprianou also continuing as Scantling's coach. On July 24, 2026, he returned to New York City's Randalls Island, this time winning the event to be national champion in decathlon at the 2026 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with 8,526 points ahead of Kyle Garland and Hakim McMorris. It was his first completed decathlon for four years and he won four of the individual events: long jump, shot put, 110 m hurdles, and javelin.[18][19][3] He was the second oldest winner of the title at the age of 33 years old, behind only Kip Janvrin aged 35 in 2001.[20]

Personal bests

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Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.

As of June 23, 2025
Event Performance Location Date Points
Decathlon N/a Fayetteville May 6–7, 2022 8,867 points
100 meters 10.53 (+1.8 m/s) Eugene June 29, 2021 968 points
Long jump 7.68 m (25 ft 2+1⁄4 in) (+2.0 m/s) Fayetteville May 6, 2022 980 points
Shot put 16.20 m (53 ft 1+3⁄4 in) Athens, Georgia April 9, 2021 864 points
High jump 2.13 m (6 ft 11+3⁄4 in) Fayetteville March 13, 2015 925 points
400 meters 48.25 Tokyo August 4, 2021 897 points
110 meters hurdles 13.59 (+1.0 m/s) Fayetteville March 18, 2022 1,028 points
Discus throw 51.04 m (167 ft 5+1⁄4 in) Fayetteville May 7, 2022 892 points
Pole vault 5.07 m (16 ft 7+1⁄2 in) Starkville May 16, 2015 864 points
Javelin throw 69.37 m (227 ft 7 in) Eugene July 3, 2016 880 points
1500 meters 4:35.54 Tokyo August 5, 2021 709 points
Virtual Best Performance 9,075 points

Indoor

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As of June 23, 2025
Event Performance Location Date Points
Heptathlon N/a Spokane May 6–7, 2022 6,382 points
60 meters 6.84 Belgrade March 18, 2022 940 points
Long jump 7.45 m (24 ft 5+1⁄4 in) Annapolis February 7, 2020 922 points
Shot put 16.37 m (53 ft 8+1⁄4 in) Serbia March 18, 2022 874 points
High jump 2.07 m (6 ft 9+1⁄4 in) Athens, Georgia April 10, 2014 868 points
60 meters hurdles 7.75 Serbia February 5, 2022 1,046 points
Pole vault 5.22 m (17 ft 1+1⁄2 in) Athens, Georgia April 10, 2021 979 points
1000 meters 2:43.04 Spokane February 27, 2022 840 points
Virtual Best Performance 6,469 points

References

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  1. ↑ Freeman, Clayton (August 5, 2021). "Garrett Scantling, from Episcopal School of Jacksonville, places fourth in Olympic decathlon". jacksonville.com.
  2. ↑ "Garrett Scantling". ESPN. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "GARRETT SCANTLING ENJOYS 'FULL-CIRCLE' MOMENT WITH DECATHLON VICTORY". Dyestat. July 25, 2026. Retrieved July 25, 2026.
  4. ↑ Newlin, William (June 2, 2020). "Olympic hopefuls Garrett Scantling and Devon Williams return to Athens Tokyo Dreaming". The Red and Black.
  5. 1 2 Bachman, Rachel (August 2, 2021). "The Top U.S. Olympic Decathlete's Training Aid? Estonians". Wall Street Journal.
  6. ↑ Reid, John. "Jaguars Notebook: Episcopal graduate Garrett Scantling trying to make successful transition to football". Jakxsonville.com. Retrieved July 25, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's... Garrett Scantling". World Athletics.
  8. ↑ Pieraccini, Gabby (January 19, 2021). "World Tour of Decathlon: 2020 in Review".
  9. ↑ Sampaolo, Diego (April 12, 2021). "Grande gara di decathlon ad Athens in Georgia - SprintNews.it".
  10. ↑ "US Olympic Trials". World Athletics. June 19, 2026. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Athletics SCANTLING Garrett - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Archived from the original on August 6, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Athletics - 400m - Heat 2 Results". Archived from the original on August 6, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Athletics - 1500m - Heat 1 Results". Archived from the original on August 6, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  14. ↑ "USA Combined Events Championships". World Athletics. May 7, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2026.
  15. ↑ "U.S. Track and Field Athlete Garrett Scantling Accepts Provisional Suspension". usada.org. July 21, 2022.
  16. ↑ Zaccardi, Nick (November 18, 2022). "Garrett Scantling, world's top decathlete, banned three years". nbcsports.com.
  17. ↑ "USA Championships". World Athletics. July 31, 2025. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  18. ↑ "Scantling secures U.S decathlon title at nationals". NBC Sports. July 24, 2026. Retrieved July 25, 2026.
  19. ↑ Freeman, Clayton. "Garrett Scantling, back on top". Jacksonville.com. Retrieved July 25, 2026.
  20. ↑ "NOAH LYLES RUNS WORLD-LEADING TIME TO WIN 100 METERS AT USATF OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS". Dye Stat. July 25, 2026. Retrieved July 25, 2026.
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