Women's pentathlon

This article is about the track and field event. For the Olympic event combining fencing, horse racing, running, shooting and swimming, see Modern Pentathlon.

The pentathlon is a sports contest made up of five events (from the Greek pente (five) and athlon (contest)). The women's pentathlon was contested in the Olympics from 1964 until 1980, and it was replaced in the 1984 Games with the heptathlon. It had a different set of events than the ancient Olympic pentathlon. The events were shot put, high jump, a hurdling race, sprint and long jump. Pentathlon is sometimes contested instead of heptathlon even today because of facility limitations. Indoor arenas are incapable of hosting events such as the javelin throw. The events in indoor pentathlon are 60 metre hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800 metres. The current world record belongs to Nataliya Dobrynska, who scored 5013 points on 9 March 2012 at the World Indoor Championships held in Istanbul.

The pentathlon is also common in high school athletics. It is simply a smaller version of the decathlon or a heptathlon. For girls, it is 100 m high hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump, and an 800 m run. The pentathlon is used because it is less stressful on the athletes than a full multi and because many high school meets only last one day, it allows the event to be contested in the time limit.

Top ten all-time performances in the women's pentathlon (indoor)

No. Athlete Country Result Location Date
1. Nataliya Dobrynska  Ukraine 5.013 Istanbul, Turkey 9 March 2012
2. Irina Belova  Russia 4.991 Berlin, Germany 15 February 1992
3. Jessica Ennis  Great Britain 4.965 Istanbul, Turkey 9 March 2012
4. Carolina Klüft  Sweden 4.948 Madrid, Spain 4 March 2005
5. Carolina Klüft  Sweden 4.944 Birmingham, United Kingdom 2 March 2007
6. Jessica Ennis  Great Britain 4.937 Doha, Qatar 13 March 2010
7. Carolina Klüft  Sweden 4.933 Birmingham, United Kingdom 14 March 2003
8. Kelly Sotherton  Great Britain 4.927 Birmingham, United Kingdom 2 March 2007
9. Tia Hellebaut  Belgium 4.877 Ghent, Belgium 11 February 2007
10. Tia Hellebaut  Belgium 4.867 Valencia, Spain 7 March 2008

World records (WR) compared to Pentathlon Bests (PB)

Event WR–World record/
PB–Pentathlon best		 Athlete Record Score Difference in points scored Ref
60m hurdles
WR Susanna Kallur 7.68 s
PB Jessica Ennis 7.91 s [1]
High Jump
WR Kajsa Bergqvist 2.08 m
PB Tia Hellebaut 1.99 m
Shot Put
WR Helena Fibingerová 22.50 m
PB Eva Wilms 20.27 m
Long Jump
WR Heike Drechsler 7.37 m
PB Nadine Debois 6.81 m
800m
WR Jolanda Čeplak 1:55.82
PB Ester Goossens 2:04.42
Total World record
Heptathlon Bests

References

  1. ^ "60 Metres Hurdles Results". IAAF. 9 March 2012. http://www.iaaf.org/documents/pdf/4665/AT-60H-W-u---PEN-W.RS6.pdf. Retrieved 9 March 2012. 

External links

Events in the sport of athletics
Track
Sprints
50 m · 55 m · 60 m · 100 m · 150 m · 200 m · 300 m · 400 m · 500 m
Hurdles
50 m · 55 m · 60 m · 100 m · 110 m · 400 m
Middle distance
Long distance
Relays
Field
Throws
Jumps
Combined
Pentathlon · Heptathlon · Decathlon
Road
Running
5 km · 10 km · 15 km · 10 miles · 20 km · Half marathon · 25 km · 30 km · Marathon · Ekiden
Walking
10 km · 20 km · 50 km