Overview

The sport came known to all Australians at Rio 2016 when Chloe Esposito won the gold medal in an Olympic Record. Esposito is now a mum and didn’t attempt to qualify for Tokyo but will look to be back for Paris 2024.

The sport was originally founded by Pierre De Coubertin in 1911 and has continued to constantly evolve. In Tokyo all five disciplines will be held in the one Stadium for the first time. The venue for Rugby Sevens at the Games will be transformed into the ultimate a pentathlon venue. Sydney 2000 was the first Games with the women’s event.

At Tokyo 2020, 36 men and women will compete. 31 nations will be represented with eight countries from four continents having the maximum quota of four athletes – China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Korea and Mexico.

• The Fencing Ranking Round will be held on Thursday August 5
• The Women’s Individual takes place on Friday August 6
• The Men’s Individual event is held on Saturday August 7

What's the story?

• First time in Olympic history all disciplines held in the one venue. Temporary pool, fencing piste, show jumping course and Laser-Run course in the Tokyo Stadium where the Rugby Sevens was held.
• Athletes only get 20 minutes to familiarise themselves with the horse they have drawn for the show jumping. This is a real strength for Ed Fernon.
• Youth Olympian Marina Carrier makes her Olympic debut and follows Chloe Esposito who won gold in Rio, Australia’s only medal in the sport. At top 20 finish would be a fantastic result for Carrier who has battled injuries in recent years.
• Ed Fernon at his second Games, came out of retirement for Tokyo and is in better shape than when he finished 27th at London 2012.

Ones to Watch

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Australia will be represented by Marina Carrier and Ed Fernon.

Carrier, 24, from Sydney was selected for her first Olympic Games alongside Fernon in January 2020 after earning the Oceania quota place in 2019. Having overcome a number of injuries, Carrier will be looking to continue the positive performances she had on the international stage in 2019. This will be the Youth Olympian’s first international competition in 18 months. Marina moved to Canberra in early 2021 to train at the AIS to ensure the best preparation.

The key disciplines for Carrier to fulfil her potential in Tokyo will be the Riding and Fencing. She is a good swimmer and is consistently fast in the Laser-Run.

One Minute, One Sport | Modern Pentathlon

Video courtesy of tokyo2020.org / olympicchannel.com 

Fernon, 33, was 27th at London 2012 and retired after missing selection for Rio 2016. But he was still achieving great things climbing high peaks and winning the 2017 Mongel Derby – the longest and hardest horse race in the world. In mid-2019 his former coach Dean Gleeson convinced him to have a shot at Olympic qualification and the rest is history. Dean is the Team Leader for the Pentathlon team in Tokyo.

The 12-month delay has worked well for Fernon to get himself into the best shape of his life. He also hasn’t competed internationally for 18 months but the father of two and property developer from Sydney is looking forward to putting all his hard work into action and getting his best international result. Fernon wants to inspire other young athletes in Australia to ‘dream big’ and shared his great tips for success.

Fernon’s real strength is his riding. He has been working hard on his fencing and swim. He is running really well, he just needs to start well in the shooting range to have a strong Laser-Run finish.

It will be interesting to see if the lack of international competition has an impact on the Australians and other international competitors. One thing for certain is there will be new Olympic champions with Esposito not in Tokyo and men’s champion from 2016 Aleksander Lesun of Russia missed key qualifying events.

On the women’s side, Britain’s Kate French looks set to improve on her fifth in Rio having won the recent 2021 World Cup title. Current World Champion from Belarus Anastasiya Propenko will also be hard to beat but the competition is bound to be tight with athletes having different strengths.

On the men’s side, the French two-time world champion (2016 and 2019) Valentin Belaud and his teammate Valentin Prades, fourth in Rio, will be tough to beat. Hungary’s Adam Marosi captured his second world title last month and is a definite Tokyo contender.

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Competition Format

The competition, for both Men and Women, is divided into separate events: Fencing Ranking Round (day before full competition), Swimming (200m), Fencing Bonus Round, Riding (Equestrian Show Jumping), and the Laser Run (combined Running and Shooting).

The collated scores from all the events determine the starting order and time-handicap for the Laser Run. The leader starts the Laser Run – a 3200m course on grass, with four times to the shooting range, first. One Modern Pentathlon point = one second on handicap for the final event.   The first three across the line at the end of the Laser-Run win the medals. In 2016, Esposito was 45 seconds back and still won the gold.

The fencing ranking round on Thursday 5 August will be held at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza. Each athlete fences the other 35 competitors. The women fence first and then the men later in the day. It is one touch win with an electric epee. All athletes will be ranked according to the following criteria: number of points achieved in the ranking round, then number of victories.

The competition then moves to the Tokyo Stadium, where the rugby sevens was held. This will be the first Olympic Games where all five disciplines will be contested in the one venue, with a temporary pool being built with a temporary pool, show jumping course, fencing pistes, and the Laser-Run course.

The competition for the women and men will be

Swimming

• 200m freestyle, 6 x seeded heats
• One MP point is added or deducted for every half a second faster or slower than the set time. This was one MP point per third of a second at Rio 2016

Fencing Bonus Round

• The last-placed athlete from the ranking round fences to top placed athletes. The winner of each bout will be matched against the next best-ranked athlete. In this way, an athlete may continue to advance as they continue to win bouts.
• Fencing bouts will last 30 seconds, they were 45 seconds at Rio 2016

Riding Show Jumping

• Each athlete has only 20 mins with the horse they draw before completing the course
• Course length will be 400-450m (previously 350-400m). If an athlete in the first round of riding has two falls, the athlete scheduled to ride the same horse in the second round can draw a reserve horse

Laser-Run

• 3200m (4 laps of 800m). Four times to the Laser shooting range with 5 shots needed before an athlete can leave the range
• Athlete starting order is based on points from competition to date. One point is equal to one second handicap. The first athlete to finish is the Olympic Champion

Modern Pentathlon Snapshot