The basic premise behind the modern pentathlon is that a soldier is ordered to deliver a message. He starts out on the back of an unfamiliar horse, but is forced to dismount and fight a duel with swords. He escapes, but is trapped and has to shoot his way out with a pistol. Then he swims across a river and finally he finishes his assignment by running 400m through the woods.

Under current regulations pent-athletes begin by firing 20 shots with an air pistol at a target 10m away. A ball's eye earns 10 points. A total score of 172 out of 200 points is worth 1000 pentathlon points. Every target point or blow is worth plus or minus 12 pentathlon points.

In fencing, the athletes use eppe swords. Each athlete fences for one touch against every other athlete. If no touch is made within 1 minute, both fencers are credited with a loss. A total score of 70% victories is equal to 1000 pentathlon points.

For swimming, the race is 300m freestyle. A time of 3 minutes 54 seconds is worth 1000 pentathlon points. For every half second above or below that time 4 points are subtracted or added.

The riding part is a show jumping competition with horses picked by lot 20 minutes before the competition begins. The track can be 350 to 450m long and must include 12 obstacles including one double and one triple. Competitors begin with 1100 points and lose 30 points for a knock down, 40 points for refusal to jump, 60 points for falling off, and 3 points per second for being over time limit.

Last is the 4000m cross country run. The time of 14 minutes 15seconds earns 1000 pentathlon points. Every second above or below this time subtracts or adds 3 points to the score. The runners starting order is based on their total score for the first 4 events. The leader starts first; others start sometime later, 3 points equalling a one second delay.

The modern pentathlon was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1912. It will be held in the Baseball Stadium and the modern pentathlon will be at all sites, located in Sydney Olympic Park.

Modern Pentathlon:Top 5 Countries

	G	S	B	Total
Sweden	9	7	5	21
Hungary	8	7	3	18
Soviet Union	5	6	6	17
United States	-	5	3	8
Italy	2	2	3	7