The 1959 World Modern Pentathlon Championships were held in Hershey, United States.
| Event |  Gold |  Silver |  Bronze |
| Individual |  Igor Novikov (URS) |  András Balczó (HUN) | Aleksandr Tarasov (URS) |
| Team | Soviet Union Aleksandr Tarasov Nikolay Tatarinov Igor Novikov |  Finland Tapio Kare Berndt Katter Väinö Korhonen |  United States Leslie Bleamaster George Lambert Jr. Robert Miller |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Finland (FIN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 |  United States (USA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (4 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the ancient Olympics. The modern pentathlon was first held in 1912, and its rules have changed several times over the years. The latest structure, as of the 2020 Olympics, consists of three separate events for fencing, swimming, and equestrian, which determine each athlete's starting time in the final event. The last event, called the laser-run, alternates four legs of laser pistol shooting followed by an 800 m run.
A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente (five) and -athlon (competition). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Five events were contested over one day for the Ancient Olympic pentathlon, starting with the long jump, javelin throwing, and discus throwing, followed by the stadion and wrestling. Pentathletes were considered to be among the most skilled athletes, and their training was often part of military service—each of the five events in the pentathlon was thought to be useful in war or battle.
The modern pentathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held from 26 to 27 August 2004, at the Olympic Modern Pentathlon Centre at the Goudi Olympic Complex. The men's and women's events each involved 32 athletes, an increase of eight from the previous games.
Biathle is a sub-sport of modern pentathlon invented to create opportunities for training the run and swim parts of pentathlon in real race conditions. It is a sport in its own right. It bears close resemblance to aquathlon which also contains swimming and running but comes from triathlon sport.
The 2008 World Modern Pentathlon Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary from May 29 to June 3. It was the last Olympic qualification event in modern pentathlon before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne, commonly known by the acronym UIPM, has been the international governing body of modern pentathlon since its foundation in London in 1948. Its headquarters are in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, and it has 115 national federation members. Modern pentathlon was introduced at the fifth Olympiad in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1912, comprising the contemporary sports of pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running, which embraced the spirit of its ancient counterpart.
The UIPM World Modern Pentathlon Championships is an annual global international competition in modern pentathlon. It was first held in 1949 under the organization of the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM).
The modern pentathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London was held from 11 to 12 August 2012. The men's and women's events each involved 36 athletes. The venues for the events were the Copper Box (fencing), the Aquatics Centre (swimming), and Greenwich Park.
Samantha Murray is an English modern pentathlete. She won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the bronze medal at the 2012 World Championships. In 2014, she won individual gold and team silver medals at the 2014 World Championships. In 2015, Murray reached world number #1 in the Modern Pentathlon World Rankings after taking Gold at the USA World Cup followed by a 5th place at the Berlin World Championships. Murray finished in 8th Place at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
Annika Schleu is a German modern pentathlete. She won the gold medal of the relay event at the 2012 World Championships and 2017 World Championships. She has competed in three Olympic Games, finishing in 26th place in 2012 and in 4th place in 2016.
The modern pentathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 19 to 20 August 2016 at Deodoro Aquatics Centre, Deodoro Stadium, and Youth Arena.
European Modern Pentathlon Championships is main modern pentathlon championships in Europe.
The modern pentathlon at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo took place in 2021 at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza and Ajinomoto Stadium.
Joseph Choong is a British modern pentathlete. He won the gold medal in the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the World title in 2022 and 2023.
Charles Fernandez is a Guatemalan modern pentathlete. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's event and finished fifteenth. Fernandez won the men's modern pentathlon at the 2015 Pan American Games. He also won a gold medal at the World Junior Championships. Fernandez has competed in three World Modern Pentathlon Championships as well as multiple youth and junior world championships and a Central American and Caribbean Games.
The 2018 World Modern Pentathlon Championships was held in Mexico City, Mexico from 6 to 15 September 2018.
The 2019 World Modern Pentathlon Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary from 2 to 9 September 2019.
This article lists the main modern pentathlon events and their results for 2018.
The 2021 World Modern Pentathlon Championships was held from 8 to 14 June 2021 in Cairo, Egypt.
The 2022 World Modern Pentathlon Championships was held from 23 to 31 July 2022 in Alexandria, Egypt. 170 athletes from 35 countries competed in the championships.