Modern Pentathlon
Modern Pentathlon is an Olympic multi-sport, comprising five disciplines: 200 meters freestyle swimming, fencing, show jumping (for now), and a combined event of pistol shooting and a 3200 meters cross-country run.
Fencing is one part of the modern pentathlon The sport used to be held over five days, but in 1996 a more spectator-friendly one-day format was introduced. In 2021, it was announced that the horse riding event is to be removed, with an obstacle race being considered as the replacement.
The swimming component is a 200-meter freestyle race (previously it was 300 meters), with points based on the finishing time.
The fencing event uses the epee, usually in a round-robin format. Each match usually lasts around one minute. Every competitor faces everyone else, and the more hits you record on your opponents, the more points you earn.
The riding event involves show jumping over a 350 to 450-meter course through twelve to fifteen obstacles. The participants are paired with horses 20 minutes before the competition starts. Riders begin with 300 points and lose a point for every second over a prescribed time limit, and also for knocking over or refusing to jump a barrier.
As the horses are designated to the athletes at random, this is deemed by some to be unfair. There are moves to replace this part of the modern pentathlon with an obstacle race.
The combined final event (called the laser run) was first held in 2009, in which participants run four 800m-meter laps, with each lap prefaced by hitting five targets with a pistol. The athletes resume running once they have had five successful hits (or after 50 seconds). Previously the shooting and running events were separate. Originally, the event involved three 1000-meter laps with each prefaced by laser shooting at five targets.
For the final event, each athlete starts at different times depending on how many points they have amassed, so that the winner is the first across the finish line.
Related Sports
- The individual sports of fencing, cross country running, equestrian, swimming (freestyle) and pistol shooting.
- Triathle — a shortened version of the Modern Pentathlon, athletes compete in shooting, swimming and running events as a part of a single race.
- Tetrathlon — composed of 4 out of the 5 disciplines of Modern Pentathlon: Swimming, Running, Shooting and either Fencing or Equestrian.
- Laser Run — four legs of laser pistol shooting, each followed by an 800m run. It is also the final leg of the modern pentathlon.
- Quadrathlon — consists of swimming, kayaking, cycling, and running.
- Triathlon — swimming, cycling, and running
- Military Pentathlon — a competition involving a shooting phase, obstacle run, obstacle swimming, grenade throwing, and cross-country running.
- Naval Pentathlon — comprises an obstacle race, Life saving swimming race, Utility swimming race, Seamanship race, and an amphibious cross-country race.
- Aeronautical Pentathlon — despite the name, the sport has 6 events: shooting, fencing, orienteering, basketball skills, obstacle course and swimming.
Related Pages
- More about the sport of Modern Pentathlon
- Obstacle racing
- Modern Pentathlon at the Olympics
- Winter Pentathlon was a demonstration sport at the 1948 Winter Olympics.
- List of Multi-Sport Sports — sports involving two or more sports.
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
Current Events