The modern pentathlon is an Olympic multisport that currently consists of fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, laser pistol shooting, and cross country running. Equestrian will be replaced by a form of obstacle course racing after the 2024 Summer Olympics.
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.
The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne, commonly known by the acronym UIPM, has been the international governing body of modern pentathlon since its foundation in London in 1948. Its headquarters are in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, and it has 115 national federation members in 2018 and 133 members in 2024. Modern pentathlon was introduced at the fifth Olympiad in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1912, comprising the contemporary sports of pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running, which embraced the spirit of its ancient counterpart.
Billie Patricia "Pat" Daniels is a retired female pentathlete and track and field coach from the United States, who was the U.S. track and field national champion in the 800 m in 1960 and 1961 and in the pentathlon from 1961 to 1967 and in 1970. She was national long jump champion in 1967. She won the gold medal in the pentathlon at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. A three-time Olympian, she placed seventh in 1964 and sixth in 1968. She first represented the US in 1960, running just five days after her 17th birthday, days before beginning her senior year at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, California.
Vakhtang "Vaho" Iagorashvili is a Soviet modern pentathlete, who has been a member of three different Olympic teams during his sporting career.
Yane Márcia Campos da Fonseca Marques is a modern pentathlon athlete from Brazil. She became nationally known despite the obscurity of her sport in the country after winning a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, the first Latin American to medal and the only woman to do so.
Samantha Murray is an English modern pentathlete. She won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the bronze medal at the 2012 World Championships. In 2014, she won individual gold and team silver medals at the 2014 World Championships. In 2015, Murray reached world number #1 in the Modern Pentathlon World Rankings after taking Gold at the USA World Cup followed by a 5th place at the Berlin World Championships. Murray finished in 8th Place at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
Mary Beth Iagorashvili is a retired American modern pentathlete. She is also the first U.S. female modern pentathlete and one of the twenty-four athletes to participate in the first-ever women's event at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In 1999, she married Georgian-born modern pentathlete Vakhtang Iagorashvili, who won an individual bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
Monica Pinette is a two-time Olympic modern pentathlete from Canada. She is one of the first female Canadian modern pentathletes, and the only indigenous athlete of (Métis) to compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Her 13th-place finish overall at the 2004 Summer Olympics was Canada's best recorded performance in the modern pentathlon to date.
Kara Grant is a two-time Olympic modern pentathlete from Canada. She is one of the first female Canadian modern pentathletes, along with Monica Pinette, to compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Leila Gyenesei is a Hungarian modern pentathlete and cross-country skier. She is a five-time medalist at the World Championships, and is currently ranked no. 19 in the world by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM). She is also the daughter of István Gyenesei, former Minister of Local Government and chairman of the Association for Somogy party.
Charles Fernandez is a Guatemalan modern pentathlete. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's event and finished fifteenth. Fernandez won the men's modern pentathlon at the 2015 Pan American Games. He also won a gold medal at the World Junior Championships. Fernandez has competed in three World Modern Pentathlon Championships as well as multiple youth and junior world championships and a Central American and Caribbean Games.
Sasha Gollish is a Canadian competitive runner. She won a gold medal in the half-marathon at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel, a bronze medal in the 1500 m at the 2015 Pan American Games, and gold medals at the 2017 Maccabiah Games in the 800m, 1,500m, and 5,000m events. She won the 2016 Canadian women's 10K Cross Country Championship, the 2017 women's 8K North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Cross-Country Championship, and the 2018 Canadian Half Marathon National Championship. In 2022, Gollish set a new women’s 40+ indoor mile world record, and that same year she won the gold medal at the 2022 NACAC Half Marathon Championships
Lynn Séguin is a former modern pentathlon athlete. She won the Velma Springstead Trophy for Canada's best female athlete in 1983.
The following is the qualification system and qualified countries for the Modern pentathlon at the 2019 Pan American Games competitions.
Mavis Laing is an American former track and field sprinter and pentathlete. Her highest level honour was a gold medal at the 1971 Pan American Games, where she anchored the American women's 4 × 400 meters relay team to victory, alongside Cheryl Toussaint, Esther Stroy and Gwen Norman. It was the first time the event had been held at the competition.
Samantha "Sammy"Schultz is an American modern pentathlete. She won the silver medal in the women's individual event at the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru. Achterberg and Jessica Davis also won the gold medal in the women's relay event.
Kerenza Bryson is a British modern pentathlete. She won a bronze medal in the women's individual event at the 2023 World Modern Pentathlon Championships and silver in the team competition. Bryson won gold in the individual event at the 2024 European Modern Pentathlon Championships. She also represented Great Britain at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Jessica Davis Savner is an American modern pentathlete. She qualified to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
