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.
A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά and ἄθλος. A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.
Ann Elizabeth PackerMBE is an English former sprinter, hurdler and long jumper. She won a gold medal in the 800 metres and a silver in the 400 metres at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
The pentathlon or women's pentathlon is a combined track and field event in which each woman competes in five separate events over one day. The distance or time for each event is converted to points via scoring tables, with the overall ranking determined by total points. Since 1949 the events have been sprint hurdling, high jump, shot put, long jump, and a flat race. The sprint hurdles distance was 80 m outdoors until 1969 and thereafter 100 m; in indoor pentathlon the distance is 60 m. The flat race was 200 m until 1976 and thereafter 800 m. In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw. Pentathlon is still contested at school and masters level and indoors.
Mary Denise Rand, MBE is an English former track and field athlete. She won the long jump at the 1964 Summer Olympics by breaking the world record, the first British female to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field. She remains the only Great Britain female athlete to win three medals in a single Games.
Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. 204 competitors, 160 men and 44 women, took part in 124 events in 17 sports. British athletes have competed and won at least one gold medal in every Summer Olympic Games. Future Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell represented Britain at the 200m.
Pamela Kilborn-Ryan, AM, MBE is an Australian former athlete who set world records as a hurdler. For three years, she was ranked as the world's top woman hurdler.
Galina Petrovna Bystrova was a Soviet athlete. She competed in the 80 m hurdles at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics with the best achievement of fourth place in 1956. In 1964 she also took part in the newly introduced pentathlon event and won a bronze medal. She also won three European titles, two in the pentathlon and one in the hurdles (1958), and set three world records in these events. Domestically she won six national titles, in the pentathlon, hurdles and long jump.
Jean Catherine Pickering was a female track and field athlete from Great Britain, who competed mainly in the 80 metres hurdles and long jump.
Laurien Hoos is a Dutch athlete mainly active at the heptathlon and as a hurdler.
Małgorzata Bożena Guzowska-Nowak is a retired Polish heptathlete.
Wassana Winatho, also known as Amornrat Winatho and Vassanee Vinatho, is a Thai track and field athlete who specialises in the heptathlon and the 400 metres hurdles. She represented Thailand at the 2008 Summer Olympics and competed at five consecutive editions of the Asian Games.
The Women's pentathlon competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal was held on 25–26 July. After four of the five events, with only the 200 metres remaining, the top 8 of the 19 competitors were separated by less than 100 points:
Morgan Lake is a British track and field athlete, specialising in heptathlon and the high jump. She is the 2014 World Junior champion in heptathlon and high jump, and the 2015 European Junior champion in high jump.
Combined events at the Summer Olympics have been contested in several formats at the multi-sport event. There are two combined track and field events in the current Olympic athletics programme: a men's decathlon and a women's heptathlon.
Janieve Russell is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competes mainly in the 400 metres hurdles and the 400 metres sprint. Her personal bests for the events are 53.08 seconds and 51.17 seconds, respectively. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games she was the 400 m hurdles bronze medallist and a 4×400 metres relay gold medallist. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games She won the 400m hurdles in a time of 54.33 seconds.
The women's heptathlon at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 22 and 23 August.
Valentina Nikolayevna Tikhomirova is a Russian former track and field athlete who competed in the women's pentathlon for the Soviet Union. She was the gold medallist at the 1966 European Athletics Championships and a five-time national pentathlon champion.
Denise Guénard (born Laborie; 13 January 1934 – 23 May 2017 at Saint-Maurice-the-Girard was a French athlete who specialized in the combined events.
