The sport of pentathlon is new in Singapore and we are seeking to grow this exciting event among all Singaporeans. Here's a little more information about this long-standing Olympic event.
Modern pentathlon was conceived by the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The previous version of the sport dated back to the ancient Olympics and involved sports such as wrestling and athletics and sought to crown the most complete athlete. De Coubertin wanted a similar challenge for the modern Games and came up with a sport that encompassed all the skills needed by a military messenger to cross a battlefield: horse-riding, running, swimming, shooting and fencing.
The sport represents an interesting challenge and requires a unique set of skills: physical for the swimming and running, mental for the shooting, technical and strategic cunning for fencing, and the ability to control and master an animal for the show-jumping portion of the equestrian event. Pentathletes seeking to excel at the highest levels cannot have any weaknesses and quite often are near world-class levels in each of the individual sports!
Since its inception, the pentathlon event in the Olympics has been dominated by Eastern European powerhouses like Lithuania, Russia, and Hungary, with Great Britain producing some top women athletes. But in recent years, Asian powerhouses like China, Japan and South Korea have emerged to challenge the established order of winners and are likely to feature on the winner's podium in the years to come.
Traditional pentathlon features air pistol shooting, 200m swim in a pool, epee fencing against all other opponents, show-jumping on an unknown horse and 3000m running over a cross-country course. For the 2010 Youth Olympics to be held in Singapore, the horse-riding will be omitted, and the shooting and running will combined in an exciting new format. Athletes competing in the YOG will have to be aged between 17-18 in 2010.
If you're interested in learning modern pentathlon, one of the most exciting and dynamic sports around, do contact us! Details are at Contact Us.