The Singapore Youth Olympics have many sports with varied formats to suit the conditions and appease the youth market.

Modern pentathlon, the sport founded by the father of the modern Olympics Pierre de Coubertin, will showcase a unique format where athletes contests only four sports instead of five.

With no showjumping discipline, competitors will contest a round of fencing, facing each of their competitors followed by a 200m swim and a combined event of running and shooting.

Australia’s Todd Renfree will wear the green and gold with pride this week as the modern pentathlon – or mod quad in this case – gets underway.

“I’m really enjoying being in Singapore,” Renfree said. “My training has been good. I’m getting pretty consistent throughout all my disciplines which is good but I have no idea how I am going to go.”

Getting his start in the sport through triathlons, Renfree has only been doing modern pentathlon for about 18 months, placing him in a junior position compared to some of his more experienced competitors.

“The Egyptians are looking good,” he said. “So are the Chinese and the Koreans. You can’t really tell in training how good people will be on the day though. Everything changes on the competition day.”

A unique difference in the Youth Olympics competition is the combined run/shoot event. With points accrued in the fencing and swimming stages, athletes will begin the run/shoot phase based on a time handicap. Also, for the first time in the sport’s 98-year history, pulse-emitting laser guns will replace traditional pellet-firing air pistols in the shooting event.

“It’s a lot quicker,” Renfree said of the lasers. “It’s very fast because you don’t have to load the pellets in. You just put the gun on the counter, cock it, load it and then come up and shoot.”

Adjusting to the different speed is something that Renfree has had to adapt to quickly – having only practiced with the lasers this week in Singapore.

“It’s a bit difficult. Because the loading is so much quicker you don’t aim as much as you would if you were loading pellets in. The follow-through is a lot more important.”

Despite the differences in the format, the young Queenslander is adapting well and confident in his ability to perform in the run/shoot discipline.

“It hasn’t changed how I prepare,” Renfree said. “It will change the nature of the competition though. It will be more about how you pace yourself. It’s not about maintaining a low heart rate it’s about controlling your breathing.”

With that in mind, Renfree has been spending a lot of his training time concentrating on his breathing – not only in shooting but in running and swimming too. The ultimate goal across the board is to obtain a short recovery time which will ultimately mean better shooting accuracy.

With just a few days remaining before competition commences, Renfree is set on adjusting to the mental challenge that his sport presents.

“It’s important to be mentally and physically prepared,” he said.

“Fencing is about pitting yourself against your competitors. Swimming is about going as hard as you can the whole time and the run shoot is very mentally tough. If you miss a shot or something happens you are not prepared for, it can be a big mental blow and it’s hard to get back to being focused.”

So how does the teenage athlete conquer this mental and physical challenge?

“Be ready,” he said with conviction. “Pentathlon is all about being ready before someone has a chance to get you off your guard.”

Modern Pentathlon gets underway on Sunday 22 August at the Singapore Sports School.

Alice Wheeler
AOC