The Modern Pentathlon is my favorite summer Olympics competition. I am an evangelist for the modern pentathlon and hope that you will join me in watching the final portion of the men’s event today at 1pm EDT.
The Modern Pentathlon combines five seemingly incongruent events all competed on the same day:
- Shooting
- Swimming
- Fencing
- Equestrian show jumping
- Cross-country running
The Modern Pentathlon is an updated version of the pentathlon competition in the ancient Olympics. The concept of the event is best summed up as “what if a 19th century, European, calvary officer was trapped behind enemy lines?