Modern Pentathlon at 2008 Summer Games: Pentathlon was held in the ancient athletics competitions. The sport event consists of five disciplines. For this reason, the name of the event is “pentathlon”. Pierre de Coubertin was the pioneer of the modern pentathlon. The event is contested at the international track and field competitions. The disciplines contested in the modern pentathlon event are—
- Shooting
- Fencing
- Swimming
- Riding
- Running
In the shooting event the athletes shoot at fixed targets from 100 meter distance. The fencing competition is held in the epee style. After the fencing competition, athletes contest in the 200 meter freestyle swimming. In the riding event, the show-jumping event with 12 to 15 obstacles is contested. At the end of the pentathlon competition, the athletes compete in a 3000 meter cross-country race. Modern pentathlon at the international level is governed by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne or the UIPM.
Modern Pentathlon in Summer Olympics:Men's individual event in the modern pentathlon was included in the Olympic schedule at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games. Men's team event has been contested between the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games and the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. Women started participating at the modern pentathlon event in the 2000 Sydney Summer Games. Earlier the contest was held over a period of five days. Currently modern pentathlon has been transformed into a one-day event. At present, the events contested during the Olympic modern pentathlon competition are—
Men's individual competition
Women's individual competition
Rules for Modern Pentathlon: The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne or the UIPM sets rules, which are followed during the pentathlon at the international competitions. Some of the rules are—
Pentathlon is traditionally an individual sport. The athletes contest individually for the title.
All the events included in the pentathlon program have to be contested in a single day.
During the competition, timing of each contest is recorded. The time recorded in each event taken together is evaluated to determine the winner of the competition.
In all the five disciplines, the rules of the respective disciplines are followed during the competition.
An athlete with two false starts in the running events is disqualified from the competition.
The athletes are given points on the basis of their performances and timings in the disciplines. The athlete accumulating the highest point at the end of the competition is the winner.
Medal Winners in the Modern Pentathlon: Tage Bjurefelt, Lars Hall, Gábor Benedek, Björn Thofelt, Konstantion Salnikov, Igor Novikov, Eduard Dobnikov, András Balczo, Péter Kelemen, Boris Onishchenko, Pavel Lednev, Janusz Pyciak-Peciak, Robert Nieman, Daniele Masala, Anatoli Starostin, Attila Mizser, Carlo Massullo, Joël Bouzou, László Fabian, Gianluca Tiberti, Arkadiusz Skrzypaszek, Richard Phelps, Dmitri Svatkovski, Sebastien Deleigne, Gábor Balogh, Andrejus Zadneprovskis, Michal Sedlecký, Eric Walther, Edvinas Krungolcas, A Ahlgren, W Norman, L Chernobrywy, S Jakovleva, B Kotowska, I Kisselyeva, D Idzi, L Norwood, E Fjellerup and Marta Dziadura are some of the leading athletes in the field of modern pentathlon at the international level.
