Modern Pentathlon revels in final-day spotlight - London 2012 - Modern Pentathlon

8/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

Whispers about the sport's future in the Olympic Games were heard all too loudly at the world governing body, the UIPM, with critics considering it elitist and outdated.

It is in a unique position as the only sport invented specifically for the Olympics, and by the founder of the modern Games no less.

Baron Pierre de Coubertin put together fencing, swimming, riding, running and shooting to mimic the skills needed by a cavalry officer, and Modern Pentathlon made its debut 100 years ago.

The sport has tried to move with the times. Originally, the events took place over four or five days but are now held over a single day while last year air pistols were replaced with laser guns to make it safer and easier for children to take up.

The biggest change came three years ago when the shooting and running elements were put together into a biathlon-style combined event, which made its Olympic debut in London.

It was certainly a hit with the 23,000 people who packed into Greenwich Park on Saturday and Sunday and, as the last sporting action of the whole Games, it picked its time to shine to perfection.

Modern Pentathlon is in the programme for Rio de Janeiro in four years' time, and UIPM secretary general Joel Bouzou is confident that is where it will stay.

He said: "We already have positive support from the IOC. The sport has to and will remain in the Olympic Games. The spectacle we saw is the best message we can send to the critics."

Both competitions contained plenty of drama throughout the 10 and a half hours of action.

Czech Svoboda led the way for much of the day and held off the challenge of China's Cao Zhongrong to win gold, overhauling his rival on the final one kilometre lap.

Hungary's Adam Marosi, who won the world title in London in 2009, picked up the bronze medal but there was disappointment for Russia's Aleksander Lesun and Andrei Moiseev.

Lesun, the world number one and world champion, was the favourite for gold but finished agonisingly outside the medals in fourth while Moiseev was looking to become the only pentathlete to win three successive Olympic titles but could only manage seventh.

In the women's competition, Asadauskaite had a dream day, heading into the combined event at the head of field and using her fast run to clinch gold.

It completed the set of Olympic medals in the Lithuanian's household, with her husband, Andrejus Zadneprovskis, having won silver and bronze in Athens and Beijing.

Great Britain's Samantha Murray was roared home to take silver - Britain's fifth medal since the women's competition was introduced to the programme in 2000 - while it was fitting that Brazil's Yane Marques won the last medal of the Games as the Olympic Flame passed to Rio.

Singapore 2010 adopts new sport formats

8/12/2010 3:39:00 PM

The first Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore will feature all 26 sports currently on the programme of the London 2012 Olympic Games. What will differ in some cases are the disciplines and format, such as 3 on 3 street basketball, a mixed gender relay in the swimming pool, a medley relay on the track or events in which athletes from different National Olympic Committees compete on the same team. Read on to see what your favourite sports will consist of in Singapore...

Aquatics (diving and swimming)

Aquatics comprises diving and swimming. There will be two diving events for both men and women, 3m springboard and 10m platform. Swimming events include freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and medley, both individual and relay. As a first, a mixed gender event for 4 x 100m freestyle relay and 4 x 100m medley relay is included.

Archery

Archery will feature individual men, women and mixed team competitions. The distance that athletes will be shooting is 70m.

Athletics

Athletics comprises a total 36 events for both men and women. The track events will include 1000m and 3000m races as well as a 2000m steeplechase and a medley relay. There will be eight field events (four jumps and four throws).

Badminton

Badminton will feature men’s and women’s singles events in Singapore.

Basketball

Basketball 3 on 3 will be played at the YOG. There will be two teams of three players on court at any one time. This fast-paced game is played on a half court, with one basketball hoop. It includes two periods of five minutes each. The winner is the first team to score 33 points, or the team that is leading the game at the end of the fifteen minutes of play.

Boxing

Boxing will feature men’s events. There will be 11 different weight categories, ranging from 48kg to the 91kg+ division.

Canoe-Kayak

Canoe-Kayak will feature four events for men and two for women. Both will race
in head-to-head sprints and obstacle slaloms in the kayak category. The men will also compete in the same events in canoes.

Cycling

The Cycling competition will involve teams. Each team consists of three men and one woman. The three men are required to compete in one discipline each (BMX, MTB and Time Trial), while the woman has to compete in all three disciplines. All male riders also have to compete in the Road Race.

Equestrian

In Equestrian, only the jumping events will take place (team and individual). The Organising Committee will provide the horses, which will be assigned to riders by draw. For the team event, there will be six teams representing each FEI regional zone.

Fencing

Fencing will feature individual competitions in the foil, epée and sabre for men and women, and a mixed team competition.

Football

Football will consist of a six-team competition, representing all continents, for both men and women.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is split into artistic and rhythmic, as in the Olympic Games. The artistic competition will feature eight individual men’s events and six individual women’s events. The rhythmic competition consists of two events – individual and team – for women.

Handball

Handball is a six-team tournament, representing all continents, for men and for women.

Hockey

Hockey is the same as football and handball – a six-team competition, representing all continents for both men and women.

Judo

There are a total of eight weight categories for both men and women in the Judo competition. There is also a mixed team event.

Modern Pentathlon

The Modern Pentathlon competition consists of four of the five modern pentathlon disciplines: fencing, swimming, running and shooting. The fifth discipline, riding, will not be competed at Singapore 2010. The run-shoot format will be competed. In the Combined event, laser shooting is being used for the first time.

Rowing

Both the men and women will compete in two events in Rowing – single sculls and pairs.

Sailing

The Sailing competition comprises four events, with men and women sailing in either the one person dinghy or the windsurfing.

Shooting

In Shooting, the men and women will compete in both air rifle and air pistol.

Table Tennis

Table tennis will consist of men’s singles, women’s singles and a mixed team competition.

Taekwondo

Taekwondo will see athletes competing in five weight categories per gender.

Tennis

There will be both men’s singles and doubles and women’s singles and doubles in the Tennis tournament.

Triathlon

The Triathlon competition format for individual competitions includes a 750m swim in open water, a 20km cycle ride and a 5km run. The 4 x mixed team relay competition includes a 250m swim in open water, a 7km cycle ride and a 1.7km run.

Volleyball

Volleyball is a six-team men’s and women’s competition.

Weightlifting

Weightlifting sees men competing in six weight categories, while women will compete in five weight categories. The combined results of the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk will produce the champion of each weight category.

Wrestling

The Wrestling competition will see men compete in Greco-Roman (five weight categories) and freestyle (five weight categories) and women in freestyle (four weight categories).

International Olympic Committee : News