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 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60 m. The flat race was 200 m until 1976 and thereafter 800 m. In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw.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.
Enezenaide "Naide" do Rosário da Vera Cruz Gomes is a São Toméan-born Portuguese retired track and field athlete who competed in jumping, throwing, hurdling, and combined events. She is the 2004 World Indoor Champion in the pentathlon and the 2008 World Indoor Champion in the long jump. She is also the São Toméan record holder in eight disciplines and the Portuguese record holder in five disciplines.
Hyleas Fountain is an American heptathlete. She was the silver medalist in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Sharon Day-Monroe is an American heptathlete, pentathlete and high jumper. She is the 2011, 2013, and 2014 national heptathlon champion.
Chantae McMillan is an American heptathlete who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson is an English athlete. A multi-eventer, she is primarily known as both a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete. In heptathlon she is a double world champion, double Commonwealth Games champion and an Olympic silver medallist. In indoor pentathlon, she is a world and double European champion.
Nadine Broersen is a Dutch track and field athlete, specializing in the heptathlon and high jump. She was the 2014 World Indoor pentathlon champion. Broersen competes for the track and field club AV Sprint in Breda.
Nafissatou "Nafi" Thiam is a Belgian athlete specialising in multi-event competition. She is the first athlete with three multi-event gold medals at the Olympic Games, winning the heptathlon at the 2016 Rio, 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics. Her three individual Olympic golds in a row for a woman equals the record of Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland in the hammer and Faith Kipyegon in the 1500 metres Thiam is also the only Belgian athlete to successfully defend an Olympic title.
Morgan Lake is a British high jumper. She won the silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and placed fourth at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Lake finished sixth in the 2017 World Championships in Athletics and fourth in the 2018 World Indoor Championships.
Barbara Udoezi Nwaba is an American track and field athlete who represents the Santa Barbara Track Club. Nwaba is known for the pentathlon and heptathlon. She is the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field champion in the heptathlon.
Nadine Visser is a Dutch track and field athlete who competed in the combined events until 2017 and specialises in short hurdling since 2018.
Erica Marsha Bougard is an American heptathlete. She was NCAA indoor champion in 2013 and represented the United States at the 2013 World Championships.
Heather Miller-Koch is an American track and field athlete who represents the Central Park Track Club. She participates in multi events, the pentathlon and heptathlon.
Noor Vidts is a Belgian athlete competing in the combined events. She won the gold medal in the pentathlon at the 2022 and 2024 World Indoor Championships. Vidts won the bronze medal in the heptathlon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, having placed fourth in the event at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021. She earned silver and bronze for the pentathlon at the 2021 and 2023 European Indoor Championships respectively.
Ricky Babineaux is an American male former track and field sprinter who specialized in the 400-meter dash, in which he has a personal record of 46.16 seconds. He was a gold medallist in the 4 × 400-meter relay at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, running for the United States in the heats to top the qualifiers with a time of 3:04.36 minutes alongside Clayton Parros, Kind Butler III, and Calvin Smith Jr.
Anna Hall is an American athlete specializing in the combined events. She won the silver medal in the heptathlon at the 2023 World Championships and the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships. Hall is the North American indoor record holder for the pentathlon.
The women's heptathlon at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in Paris, France, on 8 and 9 August 2024. This was the 11th time that the event was contested at the Summer Olympics. Nafissatou Thiam became the first women ever to win the gold medal in heptathlon three Olympics in a row.
Cheyenne Nesbitt is an American heptathlete and the 2024 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winner in the women's pentathlon. Competing for the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals track and field team, Nesbitt was a ten-time NCAA Division II champion including four straight heptathlon titles. At the 2024 United States Olympic trials heptathlon, Nesbitt was in 4th place after the first day of competition but ended up finishing 11th.
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