Olympic Modern Pentathlon Events

The Olympic Modern Pentathlon

Every horse enthusiast in the world is looking forward to the equestrian events at the 2012 London Olympics. The three purely equestrian events are Dressage, Eventing and Jumping (also called show jumping). This article focusses on the fourth Olympic equestrian event, which is often overlooked: the phenomenal Modern Pentathlon. The modern pentathlon’s equestrian component is show jumping, but this supremely challenging competition also involves pistol shooting, épée fencing, 200m freestyle swimming and a 3km cross-country run!

Origins of the Modern Pentathlon

The modern pentathlon owes its existence to Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee often called the “father of the modern Olympic games”. The modern Olympic games were modelled on the original Olympic games held in ancient Greece. The pentathlon (meaning “5 sports”) was a highly respected discipline in the ancient games, was designed to test all the skills of the ideal Greek warrior. It consisted of a foot race, long jump, wrestling, javelin and discus.

In creating his updated version, Baron de Coubertin wanted to simulate the heroism of a cavalry officer behind enemy lines. For this reason he chose the 5 events: shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running.

Format and Rules

Athletes in the modern pentathlon do not compete directly with one another in each event; instead they try to achieve the highest overall point score. The sport’s governing body, Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), decided that the point-scoring system led to a lack of tension in the final event, the 3km run.

To preserve the point system and add an an edge of excitement to the final cross-country run, the starting position of the runners in the final part is determined by their point score so far. The point leader will start the cross-country race ahead of lower-scoring athletes. The result is that the overall winner by points is also the first athlete to cross the finish line.

Fencing (épée): The competition is a round-robin, so every competitor faces every other competitor exactly once. The first fencer to score a hit wins the match instantly. If neither athlete scores a hit within one minute, both lose the match.

200m Freestyle Swimming: From the 2000 Olympics onwards, the distance was changed from 300m to 200m.

Show jumping: The riding course runs from 350-450m and contains twelve to fifteen obstacles. A random draw pairs horses with riders twenty minutes before the event. This adds a level of challenge, and was originally intended to represent a cavalryman stealing an unfamiliar horse behind enemy lines.

Shooting & Running: From 2009 onwards, pentathletes will have three rounds of shooting each followed by a 1000 m run. This combines the running and shooting events in a similar way to the Winter Olympic biathlon.

The shooting uses a 4.5 mm air pistol in the standing position from 10 metres distance at a stationary target. Pentathletes have to shoot five targets, loading the gun after each shot; they may then resume running. A new change from 2011 involves the introduction of laser guns instead of air guns. To simulate the delay for a pellet to clear the pistol muzzle, there is a delay between the trigger pull and the laser firing.

All in all this sport is an extremely challenging and exciting Olympic event, which enjoys a strong following in Eastern Europe and deserves more worldwide attention! If you haven't watched it before, I highly recommend you pay attention to the modern pentathlon at the 2012 Olympics next summer!