What is modern pentathlon?

When Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the modern Olympic Games, he was searching for a sport that would embody the ultimate athlete, and so he created a new sport that had everything: courage, drama, precision, combat, endurance, speed and strength. That sport is modern pentathlon.

Modern pentathlon is made up of four events combining five sports. Due to the diverse nature of the sports involved, modern pentathlon is an extremely demanding sport that pushes athletes to their mental and physical limits and requires an exceptional variety of skills.

Fencing is split into two rounds: a ranking round in which each athlete competes using an epee sword against each other athlete in a bout lasting one minute or until the first hit, and a second round based on the results of the first round. The format of the second round is single elimination, with each bout lasting 30 seconds. Points are scored for winning each bout and points may be deducted for various infringements. Athletes wear protective clothing and masks.
	Swimming is a 200m freestyle event. A set time earns 250 pentathlon points, and every 0.5 seconds faster or slower than the set time is worth +/- 1 pentathlon point.
Obstacle course racing (OCR)* is a head to head competition in which athletes race against the clock to navigate a series of obstacles over 80m, ending with a warp wall. A set time earns 250 pentathlon points, and every 0.5 seconds faster or slower than the set time is worth +/- 1 pentathlon point.
	Running and shooting have been combined into a single event known as a Laser Run, in which athletes run to a shooting station and then alternate between shooting (using a safe and environmentally friendly laser pistol and an electronic target set at a distance of up to 10m) and running a lap of up to 600m. In each shooting series, athletes must score 5 hits on the target (or wait until 50 seconds has elapsed from the first attempt) before they can run the next lap. Four rounds in total are required, meaning 20 hits on the target and up to 3,000m of running. A set time earns 500 pentathlon points, and every second faster or slower than the set time is worth +/- 1 pentathlon points.
As the Laser Run is the last event, it is run on a handicap basis. Each athlete’s score from the fencing, swimming and OCR event is added up to decide their starting position for the Laser Run. Athletes start with a delay corresponding to the number of points between them and the leader. The first athlete to cross the finish line in the Laser Run is the winner.

* Traditionally, horse riding has been one of the sports making up the modern pentathlon. The Paris Olympic Games was the last UIPM/IOC international event to include horse riding, as the UIPM has moved away from riding in favour of OCR. However, riding will remain an option for inclusion in modern pentathlon events at the grassroots level, as an alternative or in addition to OCR, and may continue to feature in Masters World Championships.

Riding is a show jumping event, requiring athletes to ride a horse around a showjumping course of up to 1.1m in height within a set time. Traditionally, athletes draw an unfamiliar horse from a pool provided by the organisers and have just 20 minutes to warm up and get to know the horse before they compete. A clear round within the set time earns 300 pentathlon points. Points are deducted for finishing outside the set time, knocking rails down and refusals. A fall means elimination from the riding event.

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