About The Sport
The combination of five completely different sports constitutes Modern Pentathlon, the most demanding sport of the Olympic Games. Pentathletes compete in the course of one day, in the following five disciplines: Shooting, Fencing, Swimming, Riding, and Cross-country running. Modern Pentathlon men and women athletes need to have strength, endurance, quick reflexes and concentration, in order to meet the high demands of the sport.
Athletes fire 20 shots from an air pistol in 40 seconds, fence every other competitor in a round-robin format, swim 200 metres in seeded heats and show jump on a horse they have only known for 20 minutes.
The final event is the 3000m run, where the pentathletes set off at intervals corresponding to their points so the first person across the line wins the gold medal.