The modern pentathlon at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris took place during 8 to 11 August 2024 at the Palace of Versailles and the Arena Paris Nord. The Palace of Versailles hosted all the modern pentathlon events, with the only exclusion being the fencing ranking rounds, which occurred at the North Paris Arena. Two events were contested, one for men and another for women.[1]
| Modern pentathlon at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Palace of Versailles Arena Paris Nord (fencing ranking rounds) |
| Dates | 8–11 August 2024 |
| No. of events | 2 (1 men, 1 women) |
| Competitors | 72 (36 men and 36 women) |
In late 2021, the International Olympic Committee announced that modern pentathlon would be dropped from the Olympic program after 2024, following the controversy in the riding segment of the women's event in Tokyo 2020, which saw German coach Kim Raisner ejected from the Games for physically assaulting one of the horses.[2]
In response to this incident, the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) was warned by the IOC to replace the riding segment with a new fifth discipline to reconsider the sport's inclusion in future editions.[3] Following announcement of plans by the UIPM for the replacement of the riding segment with obstacle racing, modern pentathlon was reinstated for the 2028 Summer Olympics.[4]
Format
edit
Modern pentathlon contains five events; pistol shooting, épée fencing, 200-metre freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a 3.2-kilometre cross-country run.[5]
The first three events (fencing, swimming, and show jumping) are scored on a points system. Those points will then be converted into a time handicap for the final combined event (pistol shooting and cross-country running), with the points leader starting first and each other competitor having a delayed start based on how many points behind the leader they are. This results in the finish order of the run will be the final ranking for the event.
Similar to the previous Games, the fencing will consist of two rounds: the traditional round-robin stage plus a "bonus round." In the round-robin, each competitor faced every other competitor in a one-touch bout. The competitors will be ranked according to how many victories they earn. The bonus round will be held on one piste in a ladder, knock-out system. The two lowest-ranked competitors from the round-robin face each other in another one-touch bout; the winner will be credited with the additional point (round-robin victories being worth 5 points) and advanced to face the next-lowest ranked competitor. This continues, up the ranking ladder, until all competitors have competed in the bonus round.[6][7]
The swimming portion will consist of a 200-metre freestyle race, with a score based on time.[7]
The show jumping competition will involve riding an unfamiliar horse over a course with 12 obstacles. The score will be based on penalties for fallen bars, refusals, falls, and being over the time limit. Following the show jumping in Tokyo, concerns were raised regarding the poor horsemanship of some of the competitors and the ethics of this section of the competition, resulting in the sport's governing body promising a review.[7]
The running and pistol shooting events are combined in the laser-run as they have been since 2012: athletes will face four rounds of shooting, each followed by an 800-metre (874.9 yards) run. In each round of shooting, they shoot laser pistols at targets 10 meters away. Competitors must hit five targets, or have 50 seconds elapse before they can move to the next leg of the run; there is no additional penalty for missed shots. Because the athletes have staggered starts based on the first three events, the first athlete to cross the finish line is the winner.[5][7]
Qualification
editSeventy-two athletes are eligible to qualify for each of the two events; a maximum of two per gender from any nation. Qualification methods remain the same for both the men's and women's events.[8]
Host nation France has been guaranteed one quota place automatically, while two invitational positions are distributed by the UIPM once the rest of the qualifiers are announced and thereby decided.[8][9]
The qualification period commences with the awarding of the first quota spot to the winner of the 2023 UIPM World Cup final. Five continental meets will afford twenty more places each per gender between January and December 2023: one each from Africa and Oceania, five from Asia, eight from Europe, and five from the Americas with a maximum of a single quota per NOC (two winners each from NORCECA and South America, and the gold-medal winner. irrespective of region, from the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile).[8] Three places will be awarded to the highest-ranked modern pentathletes in each gender-based event at the 2023 and 2024 UIPM World Championships, with the remainder of the total quota offered to those vying for qualification based on the UIPM world rankings.[8][9]
Competition schedule
editSource
| Ranking round | Semifinal | Final | Medal event |
| Date | 8 Aug | 9 Aug | 10 Aug | 11 Aug | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's | FRR | RSJ | FBR | S | L-R | RSJ | FBR | S | L-R | ||||
| Women's | FRR | RSJ | FBR | S | L-R | RSJ | FBR | S | L-R | ||||
Key
- FRR = Fencing Ranking Round
- RSJ = Riding Show Jumping
- FBR = Fencing Bonus Round
- S = Swimming
- L-R = Laser-Run(Finishing position in this event determines medalists)
Participating NOCs
editIn total of 72 pentathletes from 32 nations:
Argentina (1)
Australia (1)
Brazil (1)
Bulgaria (1)
Chile (1)
China (3)
Cuba (1)
Czech Republic (6)
Ecuador (2)
Egypt (4)
France (4) Host
Germany (4)
Great Britain (4)
Guatemala (2)
Hungary (4)
Italy (4)
Japan (2)
Kazakhstan (2)
Latvia (1)
Lithuania (2)
Mexico (4)
Poland (4)
South Korea (4)
Spain (1)
Suriname (1)
Sweden (1)
Switzerland (2)
Thailand (1)
Turkey (2)
Ukraine (3)
United States (1)
Uzbekistan (1)
Medal summary
editA total of six medals were won by six NOC's.[10]
Medal table
edit* Host nation (France)
| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Egypt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Hungary | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 3 |  France* | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Japan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 5 |  Italy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 South Korea | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (6 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Medalists
edit| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's |
Ahmed El-Gendy Egypt
|
Taishu Sato Japan
|
Giorgio Malan Italy
|
| Women's |
Michelle Gulyás Hungary
|
Élodie Clouvel France
|
Seong Seung-min South Korea
|
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Paris 2024 – Modern Pentathlon". Paris 2024. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
- ^ Berkeley, Geoff (8 October 2022). "UIPM President "convinced" modern pentathlon will feature at Los Angeles 2028". Zielona Góra: Inside the Games. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ Lane, Barnaby (23 December 2021). "Modern pentathlon tore itself apart and alienated its biggest stars to try to stay in the Olympics. It's probably getting kicked out anyway". Insider Inc. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ Livingstone, Robert (13 October 2023). "IOC backs five new sports for Los Angeles 2028 and plans to readmit modern pentathlon and weightlifting – but boxing left on hold". GamesBids. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ a b Branch, John (26 November 2008). "Modern Pentathlon Gets a Little Less Penta". New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ Rowbottom, Mike (1 December 2014). "Modern pentathlon approves fencing bonus round from 2015". Inside The Games. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Modern Pentathlon 101: Competition format". www.nbcolympics.com. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Paris 2024 – UIPM Qualification System" (PDF). UIPM. 13 September 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ a b Franceschi Neto, Virgilio (2 November 2022). "How to qualify for modern pentathlon at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ "Medal standings" (PDF). www.olympics.com/. Paris Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 11 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.