Become a Pentathlete

Fencing in Modern Pentathlon is a crucial and strategic discipline that demands precision, agility, and mental acuity from athletes. It is about speed, composure and making decisions in a split second. In this discipline, each athlete competes against every other competitor in turn, in bouts that last just one minute. The winner is the one who lands the first hit. If no hit is scored within the minute, both athletes get a point. Every victory earns points towards an athlete’s total score. In the older age categories, athletes can pick up further points in exciting bonus rounds and elimination bouts. This makes fencing in Modern Pentathlon fast, exciting, and unpredictable — one bout can change the outcome of the entire competition!

Swimming is another one of the five sports in Modern Pentathlon. It requires endurance, strength, and the ability to maintain speed over the entire distance. The distance swum depends on the age category but athletes aged 15 years and older all swim 200m freestyle. The goal is to record the fastest possible time – that time is then converted into points – a target time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds is set with every second faster or slower than that time resulting in points being added or subtracted. Competitors must demonstrate both speed and efficiency in the water, with precise turns and transitions being crucial to minimising the time recorded.

In 2023, UIPM introduced the Obstacle discipline to the sport of Modern Pentathlon to replace horse riding. The obstacle course is a sprint of 70m to 80m during which the athlete must clear eight obstacles, aiming for the fastest time. Of the eight obstacles, six are standardised and two are at the discretion of the competition organisers. These obstacles include steps, rings, wheels, monkey bars, balance beams, tilting ladders, etc. The final element is always a steep finishing wall. Athletes must hit the button at the top of this wall to complete their round. The time recorded to complete this discipline is once again converted into points scored and added to the athlete’s total score.

Laser Run is the final discipline in Modern Pentathlon and combines running and shooting in one exciting event. It demands endurance, accuracy, and the ability to quickly recover between running and shooting. Competitors are ranked according to their score from the first three disciplines with the leader going first. One point equals a one-second advantage. This final event begins with the athletes running 600 metres* to arrive at the shooting range. Using a laser pistol, the athletes must hit a target (from a distance of 10 metres*) 5 times as quickly as possible and within 50 seconds. This cycle is repeated until the athletes have run 5 x 600m and completed 4 shoots in total. The challenge is to maintain a good speed then catch your breath to shoot calmly and carefully. These transitions between rapid motion and complete focus make for some of the sport's most compelling moments. The first athlete to cross the finish line wins the competition. The lead can change hands a number of times as the leaders come under pressure and often the medals are decided in a sprint to the line in the final metres. * distance and laps depend on the age of the athlete.