Often underrated but one of the toughest events around is the five-pronged test of the modern penthathlon.
Often underrated but one of the toughest events around is the five-pronged test of the modern penthathlon.
London 2012 will see competitors take part in fencing, swimming, riding and a final combined event of running and shooting. There will be 36 men and 36 women battling it out for gold with athletes' performances in each of the individual disciplines are converted into pentathlon points.
Fencing: This involves a sudden death bout with participants fighting one another. The body is the target and the aim is to score a hit within one minute - if neither can achieve that, then both record a defeat. A total score of 25 victories earns 1000 points with the value of each hit worth +/- 24 points.
Swimming: Athletes are seeded in heats according to their personal best time over 200m freestyle. A time of two minutes 30 equates to 1000 points with each 1/3 of a second above or below that time worth +/- 4 points.
Riding: The penthathletes are asked to ride an unfamiliar horse after drawing lots - they are allowed a 20 minute familiarisation session with five practice fences to jump - over a showjumping course which measures 350 to 450 metres. Each athlete starts with 1200 points which is reduced for each obstacle knocked down, a refusal, falls or other errors. Penalties are also incurred for clocking over the standard time.
Combined Event: Makes its first Olympic appearance at 2012 after replacing the individual disciplines of running and shooting. Laser pistols are due to be used at an Olympics for the first time after being introduced to the sport at the start of the 2011 season as a replacement for air pistols. Competitors are handicapped according to their achievements in the previous three disciplines - four pentathlon points from the previous disciplines equals one second, so if you're 40 points ahead at the start of the run/shoot you'd have a 10 second lead.
The handicapped start means that you know whoever crosses the finish line first is the winner (rather than having to add points up at the end, as they do in the decathlon). The leader goes first and a short run is followed by unlimited shots in a bid to hit five targets in 70 seconds from 10 metres. There follows a 1000-metre run, shots at five more targets in 70 seconds which is then repeated before a final run to the finish line of 1000 metres.
History
This five-element event has been part of the modern games since 1912 so will celebrate its centenary at London in 2012. Legend has it that the origins of the Modern Pentathlon come from a 19th century French cavalry officer who had to ride, swim, shoot, run and fence in order to complete a mission - the five disciplines that competitors have to complete on the way to a potential gold medal.
It was Pierre De Coubertin's belief that it would be this event, above all others, that tested a man's moral qualities as much as his physical resources and skills, producing there by the ideal, complete athlete
Delving deeper into the historical archives, the pentathlon was introduced in the 18th Olympiad in 708BC and was thought to be used as a method to train soldiers from Sparta. Great prestige was attached to the winner of the event - he was crowned 'Victor Ludorum' or winner of the games. The tests that were faced were running the length of the stadium, jumping, the discus throw, the spear throw and wrestling.
Best of British
Modern Pentathlon is one of Great Britain's most successful Olympic sports having won 66 per cent of the medals available to us since the women's sport was added to the Olympic programme.
Steph Cook won gold and
Kate Allenby bronze in 2000,
Georgina Harland bronze in 2004 and
Heather Fell silver in 2008. That equates to six women athletes competing and four medals - not a bad return.
Cook from Scotland took gold in 2000, the first time the event was included at the Games for women.
Cook put her medical career on hold to concentrate on the five disciplines and her hard work was rewarded with that first in Sydney, when she beat America's Emily De Riel. She went on to win the world championships the following year before announcing her retirement - she was awarded an MBE in 2001 as well.
Ones to Watch
Heather Fell: will be looking to go one better than in Beijing 2008 where she picked up the silver medal. The former world junior champion received a huge boost to her confidence by reaching the podium and believes she has what it takes to bring home a gold medal on her own patch for the Great Britain team. Fell was ranked 12 in the world at the start of 2011 and Great Britain had seven women in the top-40 in the world at the start of the year. Only two athletes per gender per nation can compete so Fell faces a tough challenge to get to London 2012. If she does, she will have to overcome her Beijing conqueror - Germany's Lena Schoneborn, currently rated the best in the world.
Britain's men have also come on a lot as
Sam Weale and
Nick Woodbridge both competed at 2008 - they were the first GB men to qualify for the Olympics since 1996. Sam won silver at the Euro Championships in 2010 - the first male British pentathlete to win an individual medal at a Euro Champs.
Finally, one men's and women's quota places for 2012 are up for grabs at the World Cup final in London (Crystal Palace and Greenwich Park on 9 and 10 July) as well as eight men's and women's places at the Euro Champs (28 July to 1 August) at Medway Park in Kent.
Olympic Greats
Andrey Moiseyev: will be looking for a remarkable hat-trick of Olympic titles having taken gold in both Athens and Beijing. Born in Rostov Russia, he provided the country's third win a row following Dmitri Svatkovskiy's victory in Sydney in 2000. Moiseyev admitted after his win in Beijing - which was not without some controversy during the show jumping phase of the event - that he wanted to prove his victory in Athens was no fluke. A third success in London would cement his place as one of the true modern sporting greats.
