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.
Germany competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fourth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics after its reunification in 1990. The German Olympic Sports Confederation sent the nation's second largest delegation to the Games since its reunification. A total of 441 athletes, 250 men and 191 women, competed in 27 sports, and were nominated by DOSB at four occasions.
New Zealand competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's twenty-second appearance at the Olympics since its debut in 1908 as part of Australasia. The New Zealand Olympic Committee sent a total of 148 athletes, 81 men, and 67 women to the Games to compete in 18 sports, surpassing a single athlete short of the record from Sydney four years earlier. Basketball and field hockey were the only team-based sports in which New Zealand had its representation at these Olympic Games. There was only a single competitor in archery, boxing, and fencing.
The men's team sprint event in cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics was contested by twelve teams. The competition took place on 21 August at the Olympic Velodrome at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex.
Argentina competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands. 81 competitors, all men, took part in 41 events in 12 sports. Argentina competed in equestrian, football, sailing, water polo, and wrestling for the first time. Argentina won 3 gold medals, its first Olympic championships in boxing and swimming. The team also won its first medals of any sort in fencing and football.
The men's foil was one of three fencing events on the Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. It was held on the second day of competition, 7 April. Eight fencers took part, with the preliminary fencing involving a round-robin held in two groups. The first group was Pierrakos-Mavromichalis, Delaborde, Callot, and Poulos. The second was Komninos-Miliotis, Balakakis, Gravelotte, and Vouros. The two fencers that were undefeated in their groups faced each other in the final for gold and silver medals, while Pierrakos-Mavromichalis and Vouros were awarded third place. Vouros's second win came from a forfeit by Komninos-Miliotis.
The men's sabre was one of three fencing events on the Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. It was held on 9 April, the fourth day of competition. The event was won by Ioannis Georgiadis of Greece, with his countryman Telemachos Karakalos. Holger Nielsen of Denmark finished third.
The men's épée was a competition in fencing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A total of 37 men from 21 nations competed in this event. Each nation was limited to 3 fencers. Competition took place in the Fencing Hall at the Helliniko Olympic Complex on August 17. The event was won by Marcel Fischer of Switzerland, the nation's first victory in the event and first medal of any color since 1952. Wang Lei's silver was China's first medal in the men's individual épée. Defending champion Pavel Kolobkov earned bronze, finishing a set of three different-colored Olympic medals in the event. Kolobkov was the fourth man to earn three medals in the event and had the best record of any of the four; only Ramón Fonst had more individual Olympic success in the men's épée. It was the fifth consecutive Games in which a Russian fencer reached the podium, including medals for Russian fencers competing for the Soviet Union (1988) and Unified Team (1992).
The men's foil was a competition in fencing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A total of 36 men from 20 nations competed in this event. Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. Competition took place in the Fencing Hall at the Helliniko Olympic Complex on August 16. The event was won by Brice Guyart of France, the nation's ninth victory in the men's foil. Italy took the other two medals, with Salvatore Sanzo earning silver and Andrea Cassarà winning the bronze medal match.
The men's sabre was a competition in fencing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A total of 39 men from 21 nations competed in this event. Nations had been limited to three fencers each since 1928. Competition took place in the Fencing Hall at the Helliniko Olympic Complex on August 14. The event was won by Aldo Montano of Italy, the nation's first victory in the men's sabre since 1920. Montano accomplished what his grandfather and father, both world champions in the individual event and Olympic medalists in the team competition, had not been able to: Olympic gold in the individual event. Zsolt Nemcsik of Hungary took silver while Vladislav Tretiak earned Ukraine's first medal in the event with his bronze. France's five-Games medal streak ended.
These are the results of the women's sabre competition in fencing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A total of 24 women competed in this event. Competition took place in the Fencing Hall at the Helliniko Olympic Complex on August 17.
These are the results of the women's épée team competition in fencing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A total of 33 women from nine nations competed in this event. Competition took place in the Fencing Hall at the Helliniko Olympic Complex on August 20.
These are the results of the men's foil team competition in fencing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A total of 30 men from eight nations competed in this event. Competition took place in the Fencing Hall at the Helliniko Olympic Complex on August 21.
These are the results of the men's sabre team competition in fencing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A total of 31 men from nine nations competed in this event. Competition took place in the Fencing Hall at the Helliniko Olympic Complex on August 19.
The men's épée fencing competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place on August 10 at the Olympic Green Convention Centre. There were 41 competitors from 23 nations. The event was won by Matteo Tagliariol of Italy, the nation's first victory in the event since 1960 and first medal of any color since 1968. It was Italy's seventh overall victory, most among nations. The silver medal went to Fabrice Jeannet of France. José Luis Abajo earned Spain's first men's individual épée medal with his bronze. The Russian fencers' streak of five Games on the podium ended.
The men's eight (M8+) competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 11 to August 17 at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. Seven of nine national teams returned from the men's eight competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics to compete again, joined by the host nation. A total of 75 competitors took part, with three substitutions made during the competition. The event was won by Canada, the nation's first victory in the men's eight since 1992 and third overall. The British team took silver, with the Americans finishing with the bronze medal.
The men's team sabre was one of eight fencing events on the fencing at the 1960 Summer Olympics programme. It was the eleventh appearance of the event. The competition was held on 10 September 1960. 80 fencers from 16 nations competed.
The men's épée was one of ten fencing events on the fencing at the 2000 Summer Olympics programme. It was the twenty-third appearance of the event. The competition was held on 16 September 2000. 42 fencers from 22 nations competed. Each nation was limited to three fencers. The event was won by Pavel Kolobkov of Russia, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's individual épée. Russia joined a five-way tie for third-most gold medals in the event at two. Kolobkov, who had a silver medal in 1992 representing the Unified Team, was the 11th man to win multiple medals in the event. France's Hugues Obry took silver in Sydney, returning France to the podium after a one-Games absence snapped a four-Games medal streak. Lee Sang-ki earned South Korea's first medal in the event with his bronze.
The men's épée competition in fencing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London was held on 1 August at the ExCeL London Exhibition Centre. There were 30 competitors from 24 nations. Rubén Limardo of Venezuela won the gold medal – the country's only medal of the 2012 Games as well as the country's first medal in men's individual épée. Norway's Bartosz Piasecki won silver and Jung Jin-Sun from South Korea took bronze.
The men's épée competition in fencing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was held on 9 August at the Carioca Arena 3. There were 38 competitors from 20 nations. South Korea's Park Sang-young won the individual gold, the first victory for South Korea in the event after bronze medals in 2000 and 2012. Géza Imre took silver, Hungary's first medal in the event since 1996. Imre, at age 41, was the oldest individual fencing medalist since 1952. Gauthier Grumier of France earned bronze.
