Modern Pentathlon Score

Modern pentathlon scoring

In UIPM modern pentathlon the score is Total = fencing + swimming + horse_riding + laser_run. That is 4 events, since laser-run rolls running and shooting into one. Each event hands out points based on time or performance. For LA 2028 the rules change: the equestrian leg gets swapped for an obstacle race, a decision that followed the Tokyo 2020 horse-punching scandal.

Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the modern Olympics, dreamed up the event for Stockholm 1912 around an idealized picture of a 19th-century cavalry officer's skills. Brazil's Yane Marques took bronze at Rio 2016. The circuit runs as the UIPM World Cup season, and the CBPM is the federation here. It has been Olympic since 1912 for men and 2000 for women.

Applications

Think CBPM training prep, military officer training (which was the whole point originally), the Olympic qualifying cycle, multi-discipline school sport programs, and getting used to the new LA 2028 format.

FAQ

Why "modern" pentathlon? The ancient Greek pentathlon had a different set of 5 events. Coubertin's "modern" take instead mirrors 19th-century cavalry training.

Why horses removed? At Tokyo 2020 a German rider punched a horse that refused a jump. The backlash pushed UIPM to drop the equestrian leg and bring in an obstacle race for LA 2028.

Laser run? It is the combined event: hit 5 targets with a laser pistol, run 800m, then do that four times over. The whole thing tests cardio and accuracy while you are gassed.