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Modern Pentathlon - 2012 London Olympics

A sport like no other, at the London 2012 Games Modern Pentathlon will celebrate 100 years as part of the Olympic Games.

Did you know?

Women competed in Modern Pentathlon at the Olympic Games for the first time at Sydney 2000, where Team GB’s Stephanie Cook and Kate Allenby won gold and bronze.

George S Patton, who later became General of the US Army, competed in the first Olympic Modern Pentathlon at the Stockholm 1912 Games.

Until Atlanta 1996, the Modern Pentathlon competition was held over four or five days.

Key facts

Venue: Handball Arena - Olympic Park (fencing); Aquatics Centre - Olympic Park (swimming); and Greenwich Park (riding, combined event)
Dates: Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 August
Events: Fencing, Swimming, Riding, Combined Run/Shoot Event
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 72 (36 men, 36 women)

Modern Pentathlon was championed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, and has its origins in a 19th-century legend. The story goes that a young French cavalry officer was sent on horseback to deliver a message. To complete his mission, he had to ride, fence, shoot, swim and run – the five challenges that face competitors in Modern Pentathlon today.

The basics

Modern Pentathlon competitions are conducted over a single day. The first element is fencing, for which athletes are required to fence against every other athlete. The fencing is then followed by swimming (200m freestyle) and riding (jumping over a 12-jump course). Athletes are given a score for each element of the competition.

After the first three elements, the athletes’ total scores are converted into a time handicap. The handicap determines the starting times for the combined run/shoot element, for which athletes are required to shoot at sets of five targets after running several stretches of 1,000m. The winner of the competition is the athlete who crosses the finish line first.

Olympic Modern Pentathlon, past and present

A century after its Olympic debut at the Stockholm Games of 1912, the Modern Pentathlon competition at London 2012 will be the first Olympic Games at which the running and shooting elements are combined. The competition will be held across three venues: the fencing will be held at the Handball Arena; the swimming will take place in the Aquatics Centre; and the riding and combined running/shooting will be staged in Greenwich Park.

Jargon buster

Epée: A thrusting sword, the épée is used in the fencing element of Modern Pentathlon competitions.
Freestyle: The swimming element is a freestyle race, which in effect means that all athletes favour the front crawl.
Handicap start: In the combined element, the event leader starts first and the other athletes begin afterwards in competition order, with the start times dependent on the results of the previous three events.

Get involved

If you like an all-round challenge, Modern Pentathlon could be for you.

The best way to get started is to contact Pentathlon GB although there’s also plenty of information on the website of the Union International de Pentatlon Moderne.