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Modern pentathlon at the Summer Olympics

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Modern pentathlon at the Summer Olympics
IOC CodeMPN
Governing bodyUIPM
Events2 (men: 1; women: 1)
Summer Olympics

Modern pentathlon is a sport contested at the Summer Olympic Games.

History

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Development as an Olympic sport

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Modern pentathlon was created by the founder of the modern Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, and was first contested in 1912.[1][2] Coubertin was inspired by the pentathlon event in Ancient Olympic Games, which was modeled after the skills of the ideal soldier at the time. Modern pentathlon was also influenced by the tradition of civilian and military multi-sport events in Sweden at the beginning of the 20th century.[3] It combined events that were considered to be of upper-class origin like épée fencing, pistol shooting and riding with more popular ones like running and swimming.[3]

The five events making up modern pentathlon are (as of 2021):

After more than half a century of relative stability, modern pentathlon has been the subject of numerous changes since the 1980s with its place on the Olympic programme in question several times.[4]

Beginning at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the five components were held on a single day instead of five.[2] The same year, the Men's team competition was dropped from the Olympics. The women's event was first introduced at the 2000 Summer Olympics.[1] Since the 2008 Summer Olympics, the air-pistol shooting is held during the 3 km run.[2] Since the 2012 Summer Olympics, shooting is done using a laser gun,[2] and running and shooting was combined as one event.[5]

Modern pentathlon was still criticized as outdated and lacking popularity in the 2010s.[6] The Associated Press reported in 2013 that the International Olympic Committee was considering dropping it from the Olympics.[6] In response to the criticism, the sport's governing body, the UIPM, made changes to the sport, including by having all five contests held in a single stadium. It was planned for the 2016 Summer Olympics but held for the first time at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[6]

The events of modern pentathlon at the Olympic Games were as follows:

Event 1912 20 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 2000 04 08 12 16 20 24
Épée Fencing Round-robin ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Round-robin & bonus ● ●
Swimming 300 m ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 200 m ● ● ● ● ● ●
Riding Cross-country ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Show Jumping ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Shooting Pistol ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Air Pistol ● ● ● Laser ● ● ●
Cross Country Running 4000 m ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 3000 m ● ● ● ● 3200 m ●
Venues 5 1 4 5 5 5 3 1 4 5 5 4 5 5 4 2 5 5 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 2

Horse riding

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The horse riding event in modern pentathlon has been debated - for different reasons - since the invention of the sport.[4] Coubertin and the organisers of the 1912 Summer Olympics had different views on the availability of horses: Coubertin wanted randomly assigned horses provided by the hosts while the Swedish committee preferred that the competitors bring their own horses.[3]

For the 1988 Summer Olympics cross-country riding was changed to show jumping.

In November 2021, UIPM announced that show jumping would not be a part of the Olympic modern pentathlon starting from the 2028 Summer Olympics, which was connected to an incident in the 2020 Games where German women's coach Kim Raisner had punched pentathlete Annika Schleu's horse.[7] In response, 650 pentathletes put their names on a letter criticizing the lack of collaboration with them and asking for UIPM executives to resign, with UIPM stating it will discuss the matter with them.[8]

Events

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Modern pentathlon has been on the Olympic program continuously since 1912. A women's event was not included until the 2000 Games.

Event 12 20 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 Years
Men's individual • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 26
Men's team • • • • • • • • • • • 11
Women's individual • • • • • • • 7
Total Events 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Medal table

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Sources:[9]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Hungary (HUN)108624
2 Sweden (SWE)97521
3 Soviet Union (URS)55515
4 Great Britain (GBR)4239
5 Russia (RUS)4105
6 Poland (POL)3014
7 Italy (ITA)2248
8 Germany (GER)2013
9 Lithuania (LTU)1315
10 Egypt (EGY)1102
11 Czech Republic (CZE)1012
12 Australia (AUS)1001
 Kazakhstan (KAZ)1001
14 United States (USA)0639
15 France (FRA)0224
16 Finland (FIN)0145
17 Czechoslovakia (TCH)0112
 Unified Team (EUN)0112
19 China (CHN)0101
 Japan (JPN)0101
 Latvia (LAT)0101
 Ukraine (UKR)0101
23 Belarus (BLR)0022
 South Korea (KOR)0022
25 Brazil (BRA)0011
 Mexico (MEX)0011
Totals (26 entries)444444132

Nations and number of national participants

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Nation 96 00 04 08 12 20 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24 Years
 Argentina (ARG)         3 3 1 3 2 1 6
 Australia (AUS)         1 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 3 1 3 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 18
 Austria (AUT)         1 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 1 1 10
 Bahrain (BRN)         3 3 2
 Belarus (BLR)         2 3 4 4 1 3 6
 Belgium (BEL)         4 3 3 3 1 1 6
 Brazil (BRA)         3 3 3 3 3 1 2 1 1 2 1 11
 Bulgaria (BUL)         3 3 3 3 2 1 1 7
 Canada (CAN)         3 3 3 2 2 3 2 2 8
 Chile (CHI)         2 3 3 1 3 1 1 1 8
 China (CHN)         1 1 2 3 4 4 4 4 8
 Chinese Taipei (TPE)         1 2 2
 Cuba (CUB)         1 2 2 3
 Czech Republic (CZE)         3 3 3 3 2 5
 Czechoslovakia (TCH)         2 3 2 1 1 3 3 3 3 9
 Denmark (DEN)         4 4 3 2 1 1 3 2 1 1 10
 East Germany (GDR)         3 1
 Ecuador (ECU)         1 1
 Egypt (EGY)         3 3 3 1 2 3 3 3 4 11
 Estonia (EST)         1 1 1 3
 Finland (FIN)         2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 13
 France (FRA)         2 4 4 3 1 3 3 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 4 3 3 3 4 24
 Georgia (GEO)         1 1
 United Team of Germany (EUA)         3 3 2
 Germany (GER)         1 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 4 4 4 4 12
 Great Britain (GBR)         3 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 2 4 4 4 4 28
 Greece (GRE)         1 1 1 2 4
 Guatemala (GUA)         1 1 1 1 2 1 6
 Hungary (HUN)         1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 21
 Ireland (IRL)         3 2 2 1 4
 Italy (ITA)         1 4 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 3 3 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 2 24
 Japan (JPN)         2 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 3 3 3 12
 Kazakhstan (KAZ)         2 2 2 2 2 2 6
 Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)         1 2 2
 Latvia (LAT)         3 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 8
 Lithuania (LTU)         3 1 1 2 4 3 3 3 8
 Morocco (MAR)         2 1
 Mexico (MEX)         2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 20
 Netherlands (NED)         1 4 3 1 3 3 6
 New Zealand (NZL)         1 1
 Norway (NOR)         2 2 2 3
 Peru (PER)         1 1 2
 Poland (POL)         3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 4 4 3 3 3 15
 Portugal (POR)         1 2 3 3 1 1 1 7
 Romania (ROU)         3 3 3 1 1 1 6
 Russia (RUS)         5 3 3 4 4 4 3 7
 ROC         3 1
 South Africa (RSA)         1 3 1 1 1 1 6
 South Korea (KOR)         1 3 3 3 1 2 3 3 3 4 10
 Soviet Union (URS)         3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 9
 Spain (ESP)         3 2 3 3 3 3 1 1 8
 Sweden (SWE)         12 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 1 21
 Switzerland (SUI)         3 3 3 3 1 3 1 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 14
 Tunisia (TUN)         3 1
 Turkey (TUR)         1 1 2
 Ukraine (UKR)         1 3 1 3 4 3 1 7
 Unified Team (EUN)         3 1
 United States (USA)         1 2 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 4 4 4 3 3 2 24
 Uruguay (URU)         3 3 1 1 4
 Uzbekistan (UZB)         2 1
 West Germany (FRG)         3 3 3 3 3 5
Nations         10 7 11 14 10 16 16 19 16 23 15 18 20 17 17 18 26 30 22 24 26 27 26 28 31 60
Athletes         32 23 38 37 24 42 45 51 40 60 37 48 59 47 43 52 65 66 32 48 64 72 72 72 72 823+
Year 96 00 04 08 12 20 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 24

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "ON-Modern pentathlon at the Tokyo Olympics". Reuters. 2021-06-22. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  2. ^ a b c d Helfers, Edward (2012-08-09). "The Glorious Irrelevance of Modern Pentathlon". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  3. ^ a b c Sandra Heck (2013). Von Spielenden Soldaten und kämpfenden Athleten. Die Genese des Modernen Fünfkampfes. Göttingen: V & R Unipress. ISBN 978-3-8471-0201-4.
  4. ^ a b Andy Bull (2021-11-03). "Modern pentathlon was at risk long before a horse was punched. How to update it?". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  5. ^ "Olympics: modern pentathlon to become four-event discipline". the Guardian. 2008-11-24. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  6. ^ a b c Wilson, Stephen (8 February 2013). "IOC set to remove 1 sport from Olympic program; modern pentathlon appears most at risk". Times Colonist. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  7. ^ Ben Church (5 November 2021). "Modern Pentathlon removes horse riding from competition after Tokyo 2020 incident". CNN. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
  8. ^ "UIPM to meet athletes seeking board resignation over horse riding axe". Reuters. 6 November 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-07 – via www.reuters.com.
  9. ^ "Olympic Analytics - Medals by Countries". olympanalyt.com. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Modern pentathlon at the Olympics.
  • Sandra Heck (2013) Modern Pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics: Between Traditional Heritage and Modern Changes for Survival, The International Journal of the History of Sport, 30:7, 719-735, doi:10.1080/09523367.2013.782485
  • Sandra Heck: Von Spielenden Soldaten und kämpfenden Athleten. Die Genese des Modernen Fünfkampfes. Göttingen: V & R Unipress. 2013, ISBN 978-3-8471-0201-4
  • Heck, Sandra. "Making Debrouillards: the modern pentathlon and the pursuit of completeness." Olympika: The International Journal of Olympic Studies, vol. 19, 2010, p. 139+. Gale Academic Onefile, Accessed 27 Sept. 2019.
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