Modern Pentathlon

The modern pentathlon is a sports contest consisting of 5 events, hence the name pentathlon. The events are épée fencing, pistol shooting, 200 m freestyle swimming, a show jumping course on horseback, and a cross-country run. The epithet modern is important to discern it from the ancient athletics pentathlon -- none of the events of modern penthatlon were part of the ancient Olympics. The modern pentathlon was invented by the Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games. As the events of the ancient pentathlon were modeled after the skills of the ideal soldier of that time, Coubertin created the contest to simulate the experience of a 19th century cavalry soldier behind enemy lines: he must ride an unfamiliar horse, fight with pistol and sword, swim, and run. The event was first contested at the 1912 Olympic Games, and was won by a Swede named Gösta Lilliehook. Future American World War II General George S. Patton finished fifth. The modern pentathlon has been on the Olympic program continuously since 1912. A team event was added to the Olympic Games in 1952 and discontinued in 1992. An event for women was added in 2000. In non-Olympic years, a World Championship is held, instigated in 1949. Originally the competition took place over four or five days; however in 1996 a one-day format was adopted in an effort to improve the event's commercial image. In spite of the event's strong pedigree in the modern olympics, and its status as the only event created specifically for the modern olympic games, its lack of widespread popularity outside of Eastern Europe has led to calls for its removal from the Olympic games in recent years. The sport is governed by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), the International Modern Pentathlon Union.

Disciplines of the Modern Pentathlon

  • Shooting: The shooting discipline involves using a 4.5 mm air pistol in the standing position from 10 metres distance at a stationary target. Each competitor has 20 shots, with a maximum of 40 seconds between each shot.
  • Fencing: The fencing discipline uses the epee. The competition is a round robin, with each competitor facing all of the others. Each bout lasts for one minute, with the first to score a hit winning.
  • Swimming: The swimming discipline is a 200 m freestyle race. Competitors are seeded in heats according to their fastest time over the distance.
  • Riding: The riding discipline involves show jumping over a 350-450 metre course with between 12 and 15 obstacles. Competitors are paired with horses in a draw 20 minutes before the start of the event.
  • Running: The running discipline involves a 3,000 m cross-country race. Competitors are ranked according to their score from the first four disciplines and given different start times, with the leader going first. The first person to cross the finish line is the overall winner of the pentathlon.

Olympic champions

Individual men

1912>
0px Gösta Lilliehook SWE
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1920-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1920 Summer Olympics">1920 20px Gustaf Dyrssen SWE
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1924-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1924 Summer Olympics">1924 20px Bo Lindman SWE
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1928-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1928 Summer Olympics">1928 20px Sven Thofelt SWE
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1932-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1932 Summer Olympics">1932 20px Johan Oxenstierna SWE
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1936-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1936 Summer Olympics">1936 20px Gotthardt Handrick GER
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1948-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1948 Summer Olympics">1948 20px Willy Grut SWE
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1952-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1952 Summer Olympics">1952 20px Lars Hall SWE
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1956-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1956 Summer Olympics">1956 20px Lars Hall SWE
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1960-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1960 Summer Olympics">1960 20px Ferenc Nemeth HUN
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1964-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1964 Summer Olympics">1964 20px Ferenc Torok HUN
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1968-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1968 Summer Olympics">1968 20px Björn Ferm SWE
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1972-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics">1972 20px András Balczo HUN
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1976-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics">1976 20px Janusz Pyciak-Peciak POL
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1980-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1980 Summer Olympics">1980 20px Anatoli Starostin USSR
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1984-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1984 Summer Olympics">1984 20px Daniele Masala ITA
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1988-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1988 Summer Olympics">1988 20px Janus Martinek HUN
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1992-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1992 Summer Olympics">1992 20px Arkadiusz Skrzypaszek POL
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1996-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1996 Summer Olympics">1996 20px Aleksandr Parygin KAZ
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-2000-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics">2000 20px Dmitri Svatkovski RUS
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-2004-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics">2004 20px Andrey Moiseev RUS

Team men

This event was discontinued after 1992. 1952>
0px Hungary
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1956-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1956 Summer Olympics">1956 20px USSR
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1960-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1960 Summer Olympics">1960 20px Hungary
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1964-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1964 Summer Olympics">1964 20px USSR
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1968-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1968 Summer Olympics">1968 20px Hungary
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1972-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics">1972 20px USSR
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1976-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics">1976 20px Great Britain
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1980-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1980 Summer Olympics">1980 20px USSR
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1984-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1984 Summer Olympics">1984 20px Italy
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1988-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1988 Summer Olympics">1988 20px Hungary
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-1992-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 1992 Summer Olympics">1992 20px Poland

Individual women

2000>
0px Steph Cook GBR
a href="/encyclopedia/Modern-Pentathlon-at-the-2004-Summer-Olympics" title="Modern Pentathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics">2004 20px Zsuzsanna Voros HUN

World Champions

Individual Men

1949Tage BjurefeltSWE
1950Lars HallSWE
1951Lars HallSWE
1953Gábor BenedekHUN
1954Björn ThofeltSWE
1955Konstantion SalnikovUSSR
1957Igor NovikovUSSR
1958Igor NovikovUSSR
1959Igor NovikovUSSR
1961Igor NovikovUSSR
1962Eduard DobnikovUSSR
1963András BalczoHUN
1965András BalczoHUN
1966András BalczoHUN
1967András BalczoHUN
1969András BalczoHUN
1970Péter KelemenHUN
1971Boris OnishchenkoUSSR
1973Pavel LednevUSSR
1974Pavel LednevUSSR
1975Pavel LednevUSSR
1977Janusz Pyciak-PeciakPOL
1978Pavel LednevUSSR
1979Robert NiemanUSA
1981Janusz Pyciak-PeciakPOL
1982Daniele MasalaITA
1983Anatoli StarostinUSSR
1985Attila MizserHUN
1986Carlo MassulloITA
1987Joël BouzouFRA
1989László FabianHUN
1990Gianluca TibertiITA
1991Arkadiusz SkrzypaszekPOL
1993Richard PhelpsGBR
1994Dmitri SvatkovskiRUS
1995Sebastien DeleigneFRA
1997Sebastien DeleigneFRA
1998Sebastien DeleigneFRA
1999Gbor BaloghHUN
2000Andrejus ZadneprovskisLTU
2001Gbor Balogh HUN
2002Michal SedleckCZE
2003Eric WaltherGER
2004Andrejus ZadneprovskisLTU

Individual women

1981A AhlgrenSWE
1982W NormanGBR
1983L ChernobrywyCAN
1984S JakovlevaUSSR
1985B KotowskaPOL
1986I KisselyevaUSSR
1987I KisselyevaUSSR
1988D IdziPOL
1989L NorwoodUSA
1990E FjellerupDEN

External links

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
children's literature
mortal kombat
australian constitutional crisis of 1975
alice's adventures in wonderland
alice in wonderland
pickling
pseudopod
baltic republics
seasoning
marination
brining
cooking weights and measures
xylophone
flashbake
braising
broiling
marimba
vibraphone
glockenspiel
people of the book
celesta
gerard kuiper
lavon affair
logo (disambiguation)
logo
badger (disambiguation)
french equatorial africa
separation axiom
spread betting
israel putnam
putnam
brunch
nassau county
manilius
piet hein tunnel
zuider zee
town
gervasio antonio de posadas
wah wah
regions of england
east of england
south east england
now wait for last year
butane