Now it’s time for River City Live’s Not So-lympics! Today we are trying out our own spin on the Modern Pentathlon, but first, let’s get some history.
The ancient pentathlon consisted of running, jumping, spear-throwing, discus and wrestling. The modern pentathlon was introduced at the Stockholm Games in 1912, comprising pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running. The goal of this event was to “produce a complete athlete”.
From 1912 to 1980, the Olympic modern pentathlon was held over five days, with one event per day. Now, the event is held over one day.
Here are the rules….The five different stages are fencing, 200m freestyle swimming, show jumping and a combined pistol shooting and 3200m cross-country race. All of the stages are completed over the course of a single day. The performance of an athlete in the first three events will dictate their starting position for the shooting/racing combination event at the end of the Modern Pentathlon. The athlete who crosses the finish line first in the final run is declared the overall winner of the entire competition.