Introduction

The Olympic sport of Modern Pentathlon comprises the contemporary sports of pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running. The sport was introduced at the 1912 Olympics by the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin, and embraced the spirit of the Pentathlon of the ancient Greek Games, where the five sports were running, jumping, javelin, discus and wrestling.
The choice of the five diverse and unrelated sports that make up the Modern Pentathlon arose out of the romantic, tough adventures of a liaison officer whose horse was brought down in enemy territory. Having defended himself with his pistol and sword, he swims across a raging river and delivers the message on foot.
Since the sport was created it has undergone many changes in format. Originally taking place over 5 days the sport changed to a one day format for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Women competed in the Olympics for the first time at Sydney in 2000. In 2008 the interational federation for Modern Pentathlon voted for the shooting and running to be combined and in 2010 the shooting format was changed from air pistols to laser shooting.

Disciplines – Summary

This information relates to distances and target times for senior events. Younger athletes compete at shorter distances with target times and scores adjusted accordingly. Full details can be found in the rules

Fencing: Athletes fence all other competitors once using electric epees. Bouts are fenced for one hit and last a maximum of one minute. Double hits are annulled. If neither fencer has scored a hit within the time limit, a double defeat will be recorded.

Swimming: A 200m freestyle swim, where the athletes are seeded in heats according their personal best times. A time of 2 minutes 30 seconds equates to 1000 pentathlon points.

Riding: Athletes ride unfamiliar horses over a series of 12 show-jumping obstacles. The leading athlete after the previous disciplines draws their horse by lot. On the basis of this draw, the other horses (which have been previously numbered) are allocated to the other competitors. The athletes have just 20 minutes in the warm-up arena over five practice jumps before coming out to compete.

Combined event (running and shooting): The climax to the competition. The combined event begins with a handicapped start, calculated on the basis of the results after the previous events. It is a two discipline event, where athletes run a total distance of 3000m. The run is interspersed by shooting three sets of 5 electronic targets. Only after having hit 5 targets with an unlimited number of shots OR after a time of 1 minute 10 seconds can the competitor start from the firing point to perform each running leg of 1000m. The first person to cross the line is the winner. A time of 12 minutes 30 seconds equates to 2000 pentathlon points.

Disciplines - Detail

Fencing
Format:
Pentathletes rotate around the fencing salle in pairs. Athletes fence all other competitors once using electric epees. Bouts are fenced for one hit and last a maximum of one minute. They must stay within the parameters of their fencing piste at all times during a bout. To win a bout, fencers must make contact with any part of their opponent’s body with the tip of the epee. A buzzer will sound when a hit has been made and a light on the scoreboard for that piste indicates who has won. Double hits are annulled, the system is re-set and the bout continues for the remainder of the minute. If neither fencer has scored a hit within the time limit, a double defeat will be recorded.
Scoring:
The value of a win varies with the number of competitors. Seventy per cent of bouts won corresponds to 1000 pentathlon points. At an international with 36 competitors, this means 25 bouts won equates to 1000 points with each victory or defeat worth 24 pentathlon points.

Swimming
Format:
The swimming event is a 200 metre freestyle race - eight lengths of the 25 metre pool. Swimmers are seeded in heats according to their previous personal best times.
Scoring:
The times that the swimmers achieve are translated into pentathlon points. A time of 2minutes 30seconds equates to 1000 pentathlon points. Every third of a second above or below this time equals plus or minus four pentathlon points.

Riding
Format:
In Modern Pentathlon, the athletes ride unfamiliar horses brought in by the organisers for the event. The leading athlete after the previous disciplines draws their horse by lot. On the basis of this draw, the other horses (which have been previously numbered) are allocated to the other competitors. The athletes have just 20 minutes in the warm-up arena to get to know their horse and take them over five practice jumps before coming out to compete. The ride course features a series of 12 show-jumping obstacles which include a double and a treble at a height of 1m 20cm. The athlete must complete the course within the optimum time to avoid time penalties. Each horse is ridden by two pentathletes during the competition.
Scoring:
Competitors start with a base score of 1,200 pentathlon points. Points are then deducted for faults as follows:
20 points for each fence knocked down ;
40 points for a refusal;
60 points for falling off or for knocking down a fence during a refusal;
4 points for every second over the optimum time for the course.

Combined event (running/shooting)
Format:
The climax of the competition where athletes run a total distance of 3000m and shoot at 15 targets. The combined event begins with a handicapped start, calculated on the basis of the results after the previous events, with each 4 points being worth one second of handicap. The athlete with the most pentathlon points after the swim, fence and ride starts first. Once given their start signal, the athletes run to the range where they aim to hit five targets. Only after having hit 5 targets with an unlimited number of shots OR after a time of 1 minute 10 seconds elapses can the competitor leave the firing point to perform each running leg of 1000m. This is repeated twice more before the athletes cross the finish line at the end of the third 1000m circuit.
Scoring:
The winner of the competition is simply the first person to cross the finish line. The athletes are awarded pentathlon 2,000 points based on an optimum time of 12 and a half minutes.