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.
The men's modern pentathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics took place at the Olympic Modern Pentathlon Centre in Goudi Olympic Complex on 26 August. Thirty-two athletes from 20 nations participated in this event.
Maxwell Lander ("Maxie") Parks is an American former athlete from Fresno, California.
Graham Barry Dunlop is a Scottish field hockey player.
Dániel Kiss is a Hungarian hurdler. He holds the national record in the indoor sprint hurdle event.
Fiji sent a delegation to compete at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from 17 July to 1 August 1976. This was the nation's fifth appearance at a Summer Olympic Games. Their first appearance was at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Fiji's delegation consisted of two competitors. Tony Moore who made it to the quarter-finals of the 200m sprint and round 1 in the 100m sprint. After not starting in the 400m sprint, he only made the qualification stage of the long jump. The other athlete was Miriama Tuisorisori-Chambault who competed in the women's pentathlon and long jump. She finished 18th overall in the pentathlon and 27th in qualifying for the long jump. She would not start in the 100m hurdles.
Valeriy Vasylovych Dvoynikov is a Ukrainian judoka who competed for the Soviet Union at the 1976 Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal in the middleweight division.
Art competitions were held as part of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. It was the first time that art competitions were part of the Olympic program. Medals were awarded in five categories, for works inspired by sport-related themes.
Adrian Parker is a British modern pentathlete and Olympic champion.
Jeremy Robert "Jim" Fox OBE was a British modern pentathlete and Olympic champion.
Akira Matsunaga was a Japanese footballer. He played for the Japan national team. His brother Nobuo Matsunaga and Seki Matsunaga also played for the Japan national team.
Hans Jacobson was a Swedish modern pentathlete, fencer and Olympic Champion. He competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where he won a gold medal in épée with the Swedish team. He originally won a bronze medal in the modern pentathlon team competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics along with Björn Ferm and Hans-Gunnar Liljenvall. However, he was stripped of the medal after Liljenvall failed a drug test.
Herbert Morris Cohen is an American Olympic foil fencer.
Kathy Butler is a long-distance runner who competes in the 10,000 metres and marathon, as well as cross country running and road running. Born in Scotland, she has competed internationally for both Great Britain and Canada.
The Modern Pentathlon Association Great Britain is the national governing body for the sport of modern pentathlon in Great Britain, recognised by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne. Modern Pentathlon, the sport Baron Pierre de Coubertin called ‘the veritable consecration of the complete athlete’ comprises five events: fencing, swimming, riding, shooting and running. Today's competition involves fencing épée for a single hit against each of the other competitors; swimming 200 metres freestyle; riding an unknown horse round a show-jumping course, and then running four 800 metre laps each preceded by shooting at five targets with a laser pistol. First appearing in the Olympic Games of 1912 at the specific request of de Coubertin, founder of the Modern Olympic Games, the same five sports have comprised this greatest of all Olympic challenges and the sport completed one hundred years of unbroken Olympic participation in 2012. Despite technological changes the five events have remained essentially the same. In Stockholm in 1912, competitors brought their own horses, fenced outdoors without electric equipment, used military pistols and swam and ran outdoors. The Stockholm event took six days to complete while the super-athletes of today finish in a single day; in 1912 only men competed while today women share equal billing; the 1912 competitors were nearly all military men while today civilians generally dominate the sport. The recent changes in the sport which combine shooting and running in a single event and make use of laser pistols are some of the exciting new developments that put Modern Pentathlon at the forefront of 21st century sporting advances. Even after one hundred years of Olympic competition, Modern Pentathlon's ability to move with the times has made it the true test of the all-round Olympic super athlete.
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.
Elena Gemo is an Italian swimmer. She is 180 cm tall and weighs 69 kg.
Peter Whiteside was a British modern pentathlete. He competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics, and he was the British Modern Pentathlon champion in 1985. He died from complications due to COVID-19.
Jun Woong-tae is a South Korean modern pentathlete.
Finland competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. They won five medals; one gold, three silver and one bronze, all in athletics.
