Apentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived fromGreek: combining the wordspente (five) and -athlon (competition) (Greek:πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented inAncient Greece and was part of theAncient Olympic Games. Five events were contested over one day for theAncient Olympic pentathlon, starting with thelong jump,javelin throwing, anddiscus throwing, followed by thestadion (a short foot race) andwrestling. Pentathletes were considered to be among the most skilled athletes, and their training was often part ofmilitary service—each of the five events in the pentathlon was thought to be useful in war or battle.
With the revival of theOlympic Games in the modern era, the pentathlon returned in two formats. Theathletics pentathlon was a modern variation on the original events, with a competition over five track and field events. Themodern pentathlon, invented byPierre de Coubertin (father of the Modern Olympics), was a variation on the military aspect of the Ancient pentathlon. It focused on the skills required by a late-19th-century soldier, with competitions in shooting, swimming,fencing,equestrianism, andcross country running. A prominent aspect of modern pentathlons is the point system, whereby each competitor is awarded a certain number of points based on their performance in each specific event. The overall winner is the competitor with the highest point total at the end of the five pentathlon events.
The first documented pentathlon occurred in 708 BC inAncient Greece at theAncient Olympic Games, and was also held at the otherPanhellenic Games.[1] The name derives fromGreek words for "five competitions". The event proved popular and lent itself to illustrations onancient Greek pottery. It also featured inGreek mythology; the mythical heroPerseus fulfilled an oracle's prophecy by accidentally killingAcrisius with adiscus while competing in the pentathlon.[2] In mythology,Jason is credited with inventing the pentathlon, and he declared his friendPeleus the first winner of the event, after his victory in the wrestling.[3] The wide variety of skills needed to compete meant that pentathletes were held in high esteem as physical specimens: inRhetoric,Aristotle remarked "a body capable of enduring all efforts, either of the racecourse or of bodily strength ... This is why the athletes in the pentathlon are most beautiful".[4] 1912 Olympic gold medal winnerFerdinand Bie referenced that story after completing the events.
By the 77th Olympics, the athletic event was usually ordered into thetriagmos (long jump,javelin throw, anddiscus throw), followed by thestadion foot race, andwrestling as the final event. Unlike modernathletics, the first three events did not appear as individual events outside the pentathlon format. Other variations on the format includedboxing orpankration instead of the stadion race.[5]
The pentathlon made its return as an Olympic event at the1906 Games in Athens, consisting of astanding long jump,discus throw (ancient style),javelin throw, 192-metre run, and aGreco-Roman wrestling match.
The1912 Summer Olympics saw the introduction of two new types of the pentathlon. The first was theclassic pentathlon, anathletics competition which was a variation on the Ancient Olympic pentathlon, comprising thelong jump,javelin throw,200 metres,discus throw, and a1500 metres race. The competition featured at the1920 and1924 Summer Olympics but was discontinued thereafter.
The second type of pentathlon introduced at the 1912 Olympics was themodern pentathlon, a sport invented byPierre de Coubertin and modeled on the Ancient Olympic ideal of testing skills required by a soldier. Working from the template of a 19th-century soldier fighting behind enemy lines, the contest comprisesépée fencing,pistol shooting,freestyle swimming,show jumping on the back of an unfamiliar horse allocated in a draw, and across country run. Competitors score points based on their performance in each event and the winner is the one with the highest total points at the end of the fifth competition.[6] The men's individual competition has been held at every Olympic Games since 1912, and a women's competition was introduced in the2000 Summer Olympics. Also, a men's team event was held between 1952 and 1992.
An athletics pentathlon event for women was introduced at the1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, featuring the80 metres hurdles,shot put andhigh jump on the first day, with long jump, and 200 metres on the second day. The1976 and1980 Summer Olympics versions changed the format from 80 to100 metres hurdles, and 200 to800 metres. The event was discontinued in 1984, when it was replaced by theheptathlon.
| Events |
|---|
| Long jump |
| Javelin throw |
| Greek stylediscus throw |
| Stadion |
| Wrestling |
The format for the Ancient Olympic pentathlon varied in schedule and events. Thestadion event was occasionally replaced byboxing orpankration. The discus throw was competed in the Greek style—the athletes would throw the discus from a raised platform. The long jump was aided by the use ofhalteres; stone weights which athletes would hold and swing to help propel themselves further. Thestadion race was generally around 190 metres long, the length of theStadium at Olympia.
| Events |
|---|
| Shooting |
| Swimming |
| Fencing |
| Equestrian |
| Cross country running |
The sport is governed by theInternational Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) and, in addition to the contests held at the Olympics, a world championships is held in non-Olympic years.
For much of its history, themodern pentathlon remained largely unchanged from the original events featured at the 1912 Olympics. However, in the2000 Summer Olympics the 300 m freestyle swimming race was reduced to 200 m, and the 4000 m cross country race was reduced to 3000 m.
Thefencing (épée) event is the only one in which competitors face off directly against each other, with each competitor having to fence each of the opponents once. The épée duel lasts up to one minute; the winner is the first to land a hit, but the bout is drawn if the minute elapses with both opponents unscathed. The riding discipline involves show jumping over a 350–450 m course with 12 to 15 obstacles. Competitors are paired with horses in a draw 20 minutes before the start of the event. The shooting discipline involves using a 4.5 mmair pistol in the standing position from 10 metres distance at a stationary target.
However, in 2009 the UIPM proposed that the running and shooting events should be combined into a single event, similar to thebiathlon. Some commentators have suggested that the sport should be renamed as a "tetrathlon", given the number of competitions, but the sporting body emphasizes that five distinct skills are still applied in the course of the competition.[6][7] The 'combined' event is the last event of the pentathlon program, and consists of a continuous shoot-run race. Competitors are ordered at the start line by their cumulative point standing from the three previous event, making the race a chase event for overall placing. As of 2012, the format of the combined event is a 4x800 run loop, with a 10m air pistol component at the beginning of each loop. Competitors have to hit the target 5 times before continuing on to the next run loop. In 2011, the UIPM introduced laser shooting in the combined event to replace traditional pellets.
Given that there are a large number of track and field events, there have been numerous pentathlons featuring a variety of events.
| Events |
|---|
| Long jump |
| Javelin throw |
| 200 metres |
| Discus throw |
| 1500 metres[8] |
The Classic pentathlon was contested inOlympic Games from 1906 through 1924. In the1912 Olympic Games,Jim Thorpe won both the pentathlon anddecathlon titles, only to have them later taken away forprofessionalism. His titles were restored some 70 years later by theInternational Olympic Committee.
In the United States, this version of the pentathlon was contested as anAmateur Athletic Union (AAU) championship event until 1978. With the breakup of the AAU, as a result of the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, track and field came under separate leadership. The Athletics Congress (TAC) (nowUSA Track & Field), chose to drop the pentathlon, as well as several other multi-event contests, as national championship events at the senior level, although it is recognised at the 11–12 and 13–14 age groups as national championship events. The last National AAU Pentathlon Championships was held inHonolulu, Hawaii in 1978.
Pentathlons are used athigh school athletics and in other one-day meetings for time constraints. The events are separated by age and sex, but the five events are the same for both –sprint hurdles,long jump,shot put,high jump, andmiddle distance run. At the U12 level, the sprint hurdles are 80 metres (30"), the shot put weighs six pounds, and the middle-distance run being1500 metres for boys and800 metres for girls. At the U14 level, the sprint hurdles are 100 metres (33" for boys, 30" for girls), and the shot put is 4 kg (about three pounds heavier) for boys.
| Events |
|---|
| 60 metres hurdles |
| High jump |
| Shot put |
| Long jump |
| 800 metres |
For each event, points are given based on a standard. These points can be calculated at the USATF website.[9] The indoor pentathlon is held over a one-day period. Each athlete completes one event at the same time, then there is a 30-minute break until the next event.
Currently,Nafissatou Thiam holds the world record of 5055 points, which occurred on March 3, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey.TheInternational Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world governing body for athletics, has a women's pentathlon contest at theWorld Indoor Championships in Athletics. The athletes competing in the format are usuallyheptathlon specialists, as the events are very similar to that combined event. Until 2000, men also contested the indoor pentathlon.
The men's pentathlon was added to the IAAF list of indoor world records in 1990, at the same time as themen's heptathlon.[10]
| Events | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vis. imp. | Amputee | Spinal |
| Long jump | Shot put | |
| Javelin throw | Shot put | Javelin throw |
| 100 metres | 200 metres | |
| Discus throw | ||
| 1500 metres | 400 metres | 1500 metres |
The events contested at theSummer Paralympics varied according to whether the athletes were visually impaired, amputees or spinal disorders. The events shown on the right are taken from the schedule for the2004 Summer Paralympics.[11] No pentathlon events were held in the2012 Summer Paralympics.
| Military pentathlon | Naval pentathlon | Aeronautical pentathlon |
|---|---|---|
| Shooting | Obstacle race | Shooting |
| Obstacle running | Life saving swimming race | Fencing |
| Obstacle swimming | Utility swimming race | Orienteering |
| Throwing | Seamanship race | Basketball skills |
| Cross country running | Amphibious cross-country race | Obstacle course |
| Swimming |
By the middle of the 20th century, many of the skills in the modern pentathlon were becoming less relevant to the modern soldier (such as fencing and horse riding). A French army officer, CaptainHenri Debrus, adapted a military training method into a five event competition. The five events are: shooting,obstacle running,obstacle swimming,throwing, andcross country running.
The sport is governed by theInternational Military Sports Council (CISM) and an annual world championships has been held since 1950.
Aeronautical pentathlon is a sporting event at some multi-sport events, such as theMilitary World Games. Despite the name, the sport has six events:shooting,fencing,orienteering, basketball skills,obstacle course, and swimming. The idea is to prepare athletes for evading enemy soldiers. It is generally only participated by military Air Forces, and its first appearance at the Military World Games was in 2010.
