MAIN Sports 2012 Summer Olympics Modern Pentathlon

What is the modern pentathlon?

Designed for the modern Olympics, the sport combines a total of five events — swimming, cross country running, pistol shooting, epee fencing and riding.

Similar to the original competition introduced in Greece at the ancient Olympic games, the modern pentathlon was based upon traditional military training in the late 19th century as an ultimate test of the "complete athlete."

Later, the modern pentathlon was a featured sport at the first modern Games in 1912, and today the grueling combination of events continues to test Olympic athletes to the limit.

For years considered a macho test of physical and mental stamina, women were only allowed to compete in the modern penathlon for the first time beginning with the Sydney Games in 2000.

More about Olympic pentathlon events around the Web:

Modern Pentathlon | Olympic sport | London 2012 - Good overview of the sport's rules with a description of each competition including background history, related fun facts, photos, news and blog posts.

Union Internatonale de Pentathlon Moderne - UIPM is recognized as the "official" site of the Olympics Pentathlon, where you'll find information on the history of this sport as well as updates on the Olympics and other events.

BBC Sport | Olympics | Modern Pentathlon - News, updates, schedules together with video reports, photos, blog posts

Modern Pentathlon - Good overview of the sport with explanations of how the individual events are put together and a very nice section on scoring. The news section should keep you on top of the results on worldwide competitions.

USA Pentathlon - Nice site with a focus on US athletes, but shows world rankings for all pentathlon competitors. In depth look at the US team and good overview of the sport..