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.
Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee is a retired American track and field athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the heptathlon as well as long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals in those two events at four different Olympic Games. Sports Illustrated for Women magazine voted Joyner-Kersee the Greatest Female Athlete of All-Time. She served on the board of directors for USA Track & Field (U.S.A.T.F.), the national governing body of the sport.
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60 m. The flat race was 200 m until 1976 and thereafter 800 m. In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw.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.
Marla Lee Runyan is an American track and field athlete, road runner and marathon runner who is legally blind. She is a three-time national champion in the women's 5000 metres. She is also an athlete that competed in both the Paralympics and the Olympics, both reaching the finals.
Seilala Maria Sua is a discus thrower from the United States. Her personal best throw is 65.90 metres, achieved in July 2000 in Sacramento, California.
Shelia Burrell is a retired American heptathlete. She was a two-time representative of the United States at the Summer Olympics, competing in 2000 and 2004. Her best Olympic finish was fourth place. She also competed twice at the World Championships in Athletics, which included a bronze medal in 2001. She was also a two-time silver medalist at the 1999 Pan American Games. Her personal best for the heptathlon 6472 points and she was American national champion on four occasions.
Ashton James Eaton is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete to break the 9,000-point barrier in the decathlon, with 9,039 points, a score he bettered on August 29, 2015, when he beat his own world record with a score of 9,045 points, and remains the only person to exceed 9000 points twice. His world record was broken by Frenchman Kevin Mayer on September 16, 2018, with a total of 9,126 points, who became the third man to pass the 9,000-point barrier.
Ryan Keith Whiting is an American track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and has a personal record of 22.28 meters outdoors and 22.35 meters indoors. His biggest international senior success to date is first place at the 2012 World Indoor Championships. He represented the United States at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, 2013 World Championships in Athletics, 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the 2012 London Olympics.
Sharon Day-Monroe is an American heptathlete, pentathlete and high jumper. She is the 2011, 2013, and 2014 national heptathlon champion.
Samuel Crouser is an American javelin thrower. He is a 2015 alumnus of the University of Oregon.
Chantae McMillan is an American heptathlete who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Tia Ra'shone Brooks is an American shot putter. In 2011, she placed second in the shot put at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. In 2012, she won both events before competing at the US Olympic Trials. At the Trials, she placed third in the shot put and qualified to represent the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She placed 19th at the Olympics. Also in 2012, she was a Bowerman Award semifinalist.
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.
Erica Marsha Bougard is an American heptathlete. She was NCAA indoor champion in 2013 and represented the United States at the 2013 World Championships.
Serene Ross is an American former track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. Her personal record of 60.06 m is a former American record for the discipline.
Ryan Crouser is an American shot putter and discus thrower. He is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and Olympic record holder. Crouser is the current world record holder in the shot put, both indoor and outdoor. On May 27, 2023, Crouser reset his outdoor world record with a throw of 23.56m bettering his previous world record by 7.48 inches/19 cm. In 2021, at the U.S. Olympic Trials he threw 23.37 m to break Randy Barnes's 31-year-old record of 23.12 m by almost 10 inches (25 cm). Crouser is also a two-time World Champion and the World Championship Record holder in the shot put 23.51m, just 2+1⁄2 in off his world record.
Maggie Malone-Hardin is an American track and field athlete competing in the javelin throw. She holds a personal record of 67.40 meters for the event, set in 2021, a national record. She was the 2016 American national and collegiate record holder and NCAA Division 1 champion. She is the American collegiate record holder. Maggie and Sam Hardin married in 2022.
Felisha Nayomie Johnson is an American track and field athlete who specialises in the shot put. She was the 2015 national indoor champion in the weight throw. She won two NCAA collegiate titles in that event for the Indiana State Sycamores.
Maggie Ewen is an American shot putter. Maggie Ewen earned bronze medal when she threw the discus 59.00 m in Toronto at 2018 NACAC Championships, placed fourth in the shot put at 2019 World Athletics Championships and competed in the women's hammer throw at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. Ewen set collegiate outdoor records in shot put and hammer.
Chari Wanda Hawkins is an American track and field athlete who competes in combined events. She became the 2022 US National Pentathlon Champion with a gold medal performance at the USATF Indoor Championships in Spokane, Washington. She represented the US in the heptathlon at the 2019 World Championships in Doha finishing 12th overall, & at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest finishing 8th overall.
