The 2016 Summer Olympics come to an end this weekend, but not before the modern pentathlon takes center stage in Rio de Janeiro.
Athletes from around the world will compete in five different disciplines across two days, and it all starts with the fencing ranking round for both the men and women Thursday. Then the women will go for gold Friday, as the swimming, fencing bonus round, horse riding and combined running and shooting take place. The men then will follow suit Saturday.
The modern pentathlon came into existence during the 1912 Games, but the pentathlon has been a focal point of the Olympics since ancient Greece.
The modern version of the sport begins with a round-robin fencing tournament on Day 1.
Then the second day kicks off with a 200-meter freestyle race, followed by the fencing bonus round, which starts with the athletes with the two worst scores facing off in a 45-second bout. The winner then faces the athlete with the remaining worst score and so on. The horse riding takes place on a course with 12 obstacles, and the athletes have to ride a horse they’ve never used before.
It all concludes with the combined running and shooting event, which features four intervals of 800 meters and five shooting targets. The race order is determined by combined scores from the other other events.
Here’s everything you need to know about Olympic modern pentathlon:
WOMEN
Thursday, Aug. 18
Fencing ranking round, 9 a.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 19
Swimming, 11 a.m.
Fencing bonus round, riding, 1 p.m.
Combined running and shooting, 5 p.m. (medal)
MEN
Thursday, Aug. 18
Fencing ranking round, 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 20
Swimming, 11 a.m.
Fencing bonus round, riding, 1 p.m.
Combined running and shooting, 5 p.m. (medal)
LIVE STREAM
NBCOlympics.com
TV SCHEDULE
NBCOlympics.com/tv-listings
Thumbnail photo via Rob Schumacher/USA TODAY Sports Images
