Modern Pentathlon - today   Today, both men and women compete in all five disciplines. At the top end the competition is held all in one day where as for the younger athletes it is organised over two days or the number of disciplines reduced. A points system for each event is based on a standard performance earning 1,000 points. The winner is the pentathlete who has accumulated the most points after the five events.   In Great Britain there are competitions for athletes of all abilities and ages: Modern Biathlon – swim / run Martial Biathlon – fence / shoot Modern Triathlon – swim / run / shoot Modern Tetrathlon - swim / run / shoot / fence And finally the Modern Pentathlon with the riding event.

Competitions and Age Groups   Competitions are organised into age group bands, starting with 9 /10 year olds moving up through to Masters of 35 year old and over. Club competitions may amalgamate some of the age groups.   The distances for the run and swim start at 1,000 metres and 50 metres respectively and progressively increases up to 2,000 metre run and 200 metre swim.

Age Groups   Age (as of 31st December) Age Group UIPM International Events     International competitions European Championships World Championships Olympic Games 10 yrs Youth E         11/12 yrs Youth D         13/14 yrs Youth C         15/16 yrs Youth B √ √     17/18 yrs Youth A √ √ √   19 – 21 yrs Junior √ √ √   22 + yrs Senior √ √ √ √ 36 + yrs Masters

The Main Event   “A person who is able to finish such a competition (Modern Pentathlon) is an excellent all-round sportsman regardless if he wins or not”, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, 1911

Pistol Shooting   Air pistol target shooting. Shooting is with any 4.5mm (.177) calibre compressed air or CO2 pistol. These are used to fire 10 or 20 shots, depending on age, at a centre fire target at a range of 10 metres. Athletes have 40 seconds to fire each shot. A score of 86 out of a possible 100 for 10 shots and 172 out of a possible 200 for 20 shots is worth 1,000 points. Every target point above or below is worth plus or minus 12 pentathlon points.   There are strict safety rules which must be observed at all times and athletes must make themselves familiar with the safety rules. Follow the link below to Competition Safety Rules   Firearms legislation – Violent Crimes Reduction Act 2006   We draw your attention to the new firearms legislation which came into effect on 1st October 2007. These are important changes which have immediate impact on some of our members, in particular those over the age of 17 but under the age of 18.   With effect from 1st October 2007, the age limit for possessing without adult supervision, hiring or purchasing an air weapon has risen from 17 to 18.   It will be an offence for anyone to sell or transfer air weapons by way of trade or business – unless they are registered with the police as a firearms dealer.   If you have any concerns about how the changes may effect you please contact us or your local Firearms Licensing Office for advice.   The full Act can be downloaded here. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/si/si2007/20072605.htm   Competition Safety Rules

Fencing   Fencing is the only discipline of the five where the other athletes can influence the score. Athletes fence every other competitor in the competition, using epee swords for one hit within a time limit of one minute. The target area is the whole of the body and hits register via an electronic tip at the end of the sword. A total score of 70% victories equals 1,000 pentathlon points with the value of each hit above or below this percentage depending on the number of athletes competing.

Swimming   The swimming event is a freestyle race. The distance and times to earn 1,000 pentathlon points depends on age. Every 0.33 of second above or below this time is equal to plus or minus four points, thus the value of each second is worth 12 points.     Male Female   Distance Time = 1,000 pts Distance Time = 1,000 pts Youth E 50m 0:40.00 50m 0:40.00 Youth D 100m 1:20.00 100m 1:20.00 Youth C 100m 1:14.00 100m 1:20.00 Youth B 200m 2:30.00 200m 2:40.00 Youth A 200m 2:30.00 200m 2:40.00 Junior 200m 2:30.00 200m 2:40.00 Senior 200m 2:30.00 200m 2:40.00 Masters 100m 1:30.00 100m 1:40.00

Riding   The riding discipline is intended to test the rider and not the horse. Athletes ride an unfamiliar horse over a course of show jumps, including one double and one triple. The height of the obstacles depends on the age group with a maximum height of 120cm for the senior athletes. The track is between 350 – 450 metres in length with a maximum time to complete the course and a standard time worked out on the distance of the course. Athletes start with 1,200 points and lose points for various infringements, the main areas for loss of points are: 28 points for knockdowns; 40 points for refusal; 40 points for a fall; 4 points per second for being over the standard time.      The organisers of the competition provide the horses and the athletes draw for their horse by lot. Each athlete has 20 minutes to get to know their horse and have five practice fences for the warm up. To allow for ‘local’ conditions you will find for some competitions the number and size of show jumps in the competition may be reduced and the warm up reduced to 15 minutes with four practice jumps.

Running   The run can be completed on any type of surface and may be of one or more laps. The course should be clearly marked with flags and the maximum climb of the course should be 50m.   Usually it is mass start per age group although for major pentathlon competitions, if the run is the last event, a handicapped system may be used, where the athlete leading after 4 events starts first followed by the remaining competitors with their start times calculated on the number of points they trail the leader.   The distances and target times for 1,000 pentathlon points are shown below. Youth E, D, C and Masters gain or lose 8 points per second above or below the target time. Youth B, A, Juniors and Seniors gain or lose 4 points per second.       Male Female   Distance Time = 1,000 pts Distance Time = 1,000 pts Youth E 1,000m 3:10.00 1,000m 3:40.00 Youth D 1,000m 3:10.00 1,000m 3:40.00 Youth C 1,000m 3:10.00 1,000m 3:40.00 Youth B 2,000m 6:40.00 2,000m 7:40.00 Youth A 3,000m 10:00.00 3,000m 11:20.00 Junior 3,000m 10:00.00 3,000m 11:20.00 Senior 3,000m 10:00.00 3,000m 11:20.00 Masters 2,000m 7:40.00 1,000m 4:00.00