Hi all,
Modern Pentathlon has been an Olympic sport since 1912. It's an obscure sport, especially in the United States, where it has very little traction. The five disciplines are (1) swimming (200 meters), fencing (epee one-touch bouts), equestrian (horse jumping), running (4 x 800 meters), and shooting (4 x 5 hits at a 10-meter target).
There are also three sub-sports of Modern Pentathlon that are being promoted by UIPM (the international governing body of the sport). They are Biathle (run and swim), Triathle (run, swim, and shoot), and Laser-Run (run and shoot).
Note: since the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, the shooting discipline involves using completely safe and environmentally-friendly laser pistols instead of actual firearms. This was an important change that has made Modern Pentathlon more accessible around the world.
Laser-Run (also referred to as "combined") is the last event in a Modern Pentathlon. Competitors have a staggered start based on points accumulated in the three prior events. Whoever crosses the finish line first in the Laser-Run wins the Modern Pentathlon.
Each of the three sub-sports of Modern Pentathlon has its own World Championships. For example, the 2019 UIPM Biathle / Triathle World Championships were held in St. Petersberg, FL, on October 23-26, 2019. I competed in this event, along with my three kids, and we ended up taking home three of Team USA's 21 medals. I won a Silver Medal in the Mens Masters 40+ Division of the Triathle event despite having almost no experience shooting a laser pistol.
Here's an article about Team USA's medal haul at this event:
https://www.teamusa.org/...-World-Championships
Also, here are some live videos of some of the events that my wife and I recorded on our iPhones:
https://www.youtube.com/...hp1dIoAkm5vggltCELrl
In one of the videos, I captured the start of the Seniors/Juniors Mixed Relay Event, in which Samantha Schultz hands off to Amro Elgeziry. Samantha and Amro have both qualified to represent Team USA at the 2021 Tokyo Games, and they also won the Gold Medal in this event.
As many of you may remember, I used to be a daily participant on this forum. In chasing a KQ, I competed in Ironman Lake Tahoe (the first one), as well as many other Ironman events. I also competed at the 2017 Penticton Aquathlon World Championships.
My new passion now, though, is Modern Pentathlon. Basically what this means is I've traded long days on the bike for horse jumping lessons. I've also started taking fencing and laser pistol shooting lessons. My running and swimming training has remained pretty constant with only a slight change to focus on middle-distances instead of longer, endurance distances. I was a middle distance runner in college, so this change really suits me.
In any case, I highly recommend trying out Modern Pentathlon, including its sub-sports. There are incredible opportunities for fun and excitement in this sport, even for masters athletes. You can read more about my adventures here: https://wolfpackpentathlon.com/
Modern Pentathlon has been an Olympic sport since 1912. It's an obscure sport, especially in the United States, where it has very little traction. The five disciplines are (1) swimming (200 meters), fencing (epee one-touch bouts), equestrian (horse jumping), running (4 x 800 meters), and shooting (4 x 5 hits at a 10-meter target).
There are also three sub-sports of Modern Pentathlon that are being promoted by UIPM (the international governing body of the sport). They are Biathle (run and swim), Triathle (run, swim, and shoot), and Laser-Run (run and shoot).
Note: since the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, the shooting discipline involves using completely safe and environmentally-friendly laser pistols instead of actual firearms. This was an important change that has made Modern Pentathlon more accessible around the world.
Laser-Run (also referred to as "combined") is the last event in a Modern Pentathlon. Competitors have a staggered start based on points accumulated in the three prior events. Whoever crosses the finish line first in the Laser-Run wins the Modern Pentathlon.
Each of the three sub-sports of Modern Pentathlon has its own World Championships. For example, the 2019 UIPM Biathle / Triathle World Championships were held in St. Petersberg, FL, on October 23-26, 2019. I competed in this event, along with my three kids, and we ended up taking home three of Team USA's 21 medals. I won a Silver Medal in the Mens Masters 40+ Division of the Triathle event despite having almost no experience shooting a laser pistol.
Here's an article about Team USA's medal haul at this event:
https://www.teamusa.org/...-World-Championships
Also, here are some live videos of some of the events that my wife and I recorded on our iPhones:
https://www.youtube.com/...hp1dIoAkm5vggltCELrl
In one of the videos, I captured the start of the Seniors/Juniors Mixed Relay Event, in which Samantha Schultz hands off to Amro Elgeziry. Samantha and Amro have both qualified to represent Team USA at the 2021 Tokyo Games, and they also won the Gold Medal in this event.
As many of you may remember, I used to be a daily participant on this forum. In chasing a KQ, I competed in Ironman Lake Tahoe (the first one), as well as many other Ironman events. I also competed at the 2017 Penticton Aquathlon World Championships.
My new passion now, though, is Modern Pentathlon. Basically what this means is I've traded long days on the bike for horse jumping lessons. I've also started taking fencing and laser pistol shooting lessons. My running and swimming training has remained pretty constant with only a slight change to focus on middle-distances instead of longer, endurance distances. I was a middle distance runner in college, so this change really suits me.
In any case, I highly recommend trying out Modern Pentathlon, including its sub-sports. There are incredible opportunities for fun and excitement in this sport, even for masters athletes. You can read more about my adventures here: https://wolfpackpentathlon.com/