Pentathlon. Modern pentathlon: five sports excellence in one

It is difficult to achieve true mastery in any kind of dispute. Pentathlon (modern including) is experienced by an athlete in five different disciplines: riding, shooting, fencing, swimming and running. The ancient Greeks, who laid the foundation for the pentatlon, believed that the set of special tests shows not only the physical strength and agility of the fighter, but also his high morale.

Pentatlon and the ancient Greeks

Pentatlon is a type of sports mnogobory. Athletes participating in this competition can show their skill in each of the five disciplines. The complex of these disciplines, according to the basic idea, should reveal the possibilities of the human body from different sides, creating a certain general ideal of physical perfection. The history of the pentatlon dates back to ancient times, when at the ancient Olympic games the athletes were measured with the qualities necessary for a successful battle against the ancient Greek soldiers - they competed in running for a certain distance, long jumps, darts and discs, and covered the rugged terrain on horseback. As the ancient Greeks believed, apart from the perfection of the body, they demonstrated at the same time the moral perfection of the spirit, which various kinds of sports are taught by grueling training, patience and abstinence.

Pentatlon Revival

Along with the revival of the Olympic Games, the Pentatlon was also returned from oblivion. At the beginning of the 20th century, he entered the program, but, naturally, not in the same form as he practiced with the ancient Greeks. The idea that several disciplines in the aggregate can largely characterize the degree of physical training of a person was taken as a basis and modernized.

Later all-around, like in Ancient Greece, reflected the level of military skill and combat training, however, commensurate with the current century, and was called "officer pentathlon", and before the competition only applicants in the rank of officer were allowed. Some disciplines in their basic form have passed from the ancient pentathlon. It's running and horse racing over rough terrain. Their essence is preserved, but the pentathlon is modern, unlike the ancient one, it has other distances, requirements to the route, methods of evaluation. Officers also had to demonstrate their skill in fencing with swords, shooting from a pistol and crossing a water obstacle with any style of sailing. All kinds of sports were evaluated, and the winner was determined.

Over time, this kind of mnogobory popularized, gradually taking the form of how we know it. After the creation of the International Union of Modern Pentathlon, all comers who did not have an officer rank were allowed to compete. At the moment, in addition to modern, there are also classic athletics pentathlon. Since then, the program of modern pentathlon has undergone a number of changes, although all disciplines remained the same.

Overcoming rough terrain by riding (competition)

In this competition the athlete saddles not his horse, but the one that the lot will give him. In order to travel around it, he is given 20 minutes, 5 attempts to take obstacles. The distance for competition in jumping is determined from 350 to 450 m, with obstacles on it not exceeding 120 cm in height and 150 cm in width, including at least one double system and one triple.

Depending on the distance, the Federation of Modern Pentathlon sets a temporary rate for the passage of the entire path, which is equal to the maximum number of points that a participant can receive. The final result depends on how much the participant does not meet this standard, and also on the performance. This takes into account the loss of control over the horse, obstruction of the obstacle, as well as loss of horse rider or fall. For every second over the established time limit and for each technical violation, penalty points are awarded, the total score is obtained by deducting their amount from the original number of points.

Overcoming the Water Obstacle

Distance to overcome the water obstacle - 200 m. The choice of style of swimming is carried out by the participant arbitrarily. The assessment is as follows: a temporary rule is defined that is equal to the number of points, and a time range that is usually 0.3 s, which is equal to the penalty points. If the time to overcome the distance is less than the norm, then a multiple score is added to the total score, if more - then the multiple points are subtracted.

Fencing on swords

Here all the participants meet each other personally, the only time in all the pentathlon. Modern registration of the injection is carried out by means of electrical sensors. Carry out the fight until the first injection. If none of the fencers fails to get their opponent, the fight ends after 1 minute, both of which are considered losers. Also, none of the injections are counted, if both managed to prick the opponent, but with a difference of 0.04 s, and the end of the battle will be marked by the team "Halt".

Here, too, there is a norm corresponding to a certain number of points and 70% of victories, from which they are taken away or to which points are added, depending on whether more opponents were defeated or less. Technical violations, such as, for example, turning your back to the opponent or unsafe manipulations, are charged to the fencer in fine and also deducted from the total score.

Cross country and shooting (harvester)

Pentathlon modern combines cross on rough terrain and shooting from a pistol. All points acquired earlier are transformed into a time interval. As a rule, the cross with shooting is the final test. Thus, the participants find out who will be the first to go to the start, and who gets the head start.

The distance for the cross is determined at 3000 m. There are three firing ranges along the entire length of the route. The athlete's task is to cover five targets for which he has an unlimited number of cartridges, or after a certain period of time to leave the line and continue the cross, even if some of the targets remain uncovered. Modern pentathlon of Russia allows pneumatic pistols, which need to be recharged after each shot, or laser pistols. The competitor who first crosses the finish line wins the pentatlon.