Modern pentathlon was first contested at the Olympic Games at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. The sport was invented by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games.

A lost points system was used, in which the athlete lost the same number of points corresponding to his position in each modality. Thus, the first position resulted in 1 Lost Point, the second position 2 Lost Points, and so on. At the end, the classification was obtained by adding up the lost points, and the placements were assigned in ascending order of the number of points lost by each competitor.

Future Second World War General George S. Patton represented the United States in the pentathlon. Notably instead of using a lighter and smaller .22 pistol for the shooting event, he insisted on using his .38 Colt Army Special service weapon (because he believed this was more in keeping with the martial nature of the pentathlon). The larger caliber though left larger holes in the target; the judges deemed Patton had missed because there were fewer holes than shots fired. Patton argued his accuracy had resulted in bullets passing through the same large holes. The judges remained unconvinced. He finished 5th overall.

Participating nations

A total of 32 athletes from 11 nations competed at the Stockholm Games:

Results Shooting

Event 1 Place Athlete Score Shoot-off Points 1 193 1 2 192 188 2 3 192 183 3 4 191 4 5 188 5 6 185 191 6 7 185 189 7 8 185 185 8 9 182 9 10 180 10 11 176 165 11 12 176 150 12 13 172 13 14 171 14 15 166 15 16 161 16 17 159 17 18 158 18 19 151 19 20 150 20 21 149 21 22 148 22 23 147 23 24 143 24 25 140 25 26 135 26 27 110 27 28 102 28 29 100 29 30 93 30 31 57 31 32 52 32

Swimming

Event 2 Place Athlete Time Score 1 4:58.4 1 2 5:03.6 2 3 5:28.0 3 4 5:46.0 4 5 5:49.6 5 6 5:54.0 6 7 5:55.6 7 8 5:56.2 8 9 6:00.8 9 10 6:05.8 10 11 6:06.0 11 12 6:10.4 12 13 6:20.0 13 14 6:28.8 14 15 6:35.8 15 16 6:49.2 16 17 6:54.4 17 18 7:04.4 18 19 7:38.8 19 20 7:40.2 20 21 7:48.6 21 22 7:59.4 22 23 8:11.6 23 24 8:16.6 24 25 8:59.8 25 26 9:32.6 26 27 10:03.0 27 28 10:07.0 28 29 12:09.6 29 - DNS - DNS - DNS -

After 2 events Place Athlete Total 1 1 4 5 2 3 5 3 12 1 13 3 10 13 5 9 8 17 6 7 13 20 11 9 20 8 16 6 22 5 17 22 10 18 5 23 11 26 2 28 13 15 28 14 14 28 21 7 28 15 6 24 30 16 4 28 32 17 10 23 33 18 23 11 34 19 19 16 35 20 17 19 36 24 12 36 22 15 27 42 23 20 25 45 24 28 18 46 25 27 21 48 26 31 20 51 29 22 51 28 25 29 54 29 32 26 58 — 8 - DNF-1 22 - DNF-1 30 - DNF-1

Fencing

Event 3 Place Athlete Wins Touches Score 1 24 - 1 2 23 25 2 3 21 21 3 4 20 26 4 5 17 12 5 6 17 18 6 7 17 19 7 8 16 13 8 9 16 16 9 10 15 12 10 11 15 16 11 12 14 17 12 13 13 10 13 14 13 15 14 15 12 8 15 16 12 10 16 17 12 15 17 18 11 4 18 19 8 - 19 20 7 7 20 21 7 11 21 22 7 13 22 23 6 8 23 24 6 10 24 25 5 7 25 26 4 7 26 27 3 - 27 — DNS - DNS - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. -

After 3 events Place Athlete Total 1 2 3 10 15 2 3 10 5 18 3 1 4 15 20 4 12 1 9 22 5 11 9 3 23 6 18 5 1 24 7 7 13 11 31 8 20 7 4 31 9 26 2 6 34 10 5 17 13 35 11 9 8 21 38 12 4 28 7 39 16 6 17 39 14 14 14 16 44 15 27 2 44 16 13 15 18 46 17 19 16 14 49 18 10 23 20 53 19 28 18 8 54 20 24 12 19 55 21 27 21 12 60 22 23 11 27 61 17 19 25 61 24 31 20 23 74 25 29 22 26 77 26 25 29 24 78 27 32 26 22 80 — 20 25 - DNF-2 6 24 - DNF-2 8 - - DNF-1 22 - - DNF-1 30 - - DNF-1

Equestrian

Event 4 Place Athlete Penalties Time Score 1 0 9:04.2 1 2 0 9:36.2 2 3 0 9:39.4 3 4 0 9:45.5 4 5 0 10:34.2 5 6 0 10:42.0 6 7 0 11:12.4 7 8 0 11:14.5 8 9 0 11:21.0 9 10 0 11:26.0 10 11 0 11:43.9 11 12 0 12:01.6 12 13 0 12:03.4 13 14 0 12:33.0 14 15 2 11:00.0 15 16 2 11:11.8 16 17 2 13:15.0 17 18 5 10:00.4 18 19 7 9:44.0 19 20 7 13:26.0 20 22 14 10:49.5 21 22 38 13:44.6 22 23 81 15:46.6 23 — DNF - DQ - DQ - DQ - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. -

After 4 events Place Athlete Total 1 2 3 10 3 18 2 3 10 5 4 22 3 18 5 1 1 25 4 1 4 15 7 27 5 11 9 3 8 31 6 20 7 4 6 37 7 12 1 9 23 45 8 26 2 6 12 46 14 14 16 2 46 10 16 6 17 11 50 11 5 17 13 17 52 12 15 27 2 10 54 13 4 28 7 18 57 9 8 21 19 57 15 10 23 20 5 58 16 19 16 14 14 63 17 13 15 18 20 66 18 24 12 19 15 70 19 23 11 27 13 74 20 28 18 8 22 76 21 17 19 25 16 77 22 31 20 23 9 83 23 32 26 22 21 101 — 7 13 11 - DNF-3 25 29 24 - DNF-3 27 21 12 - DNF-3 29 22 26 - DNF-3 20 25 - - DNF-2 6 24 - - DNF-2 8 - - - DNF-1 22 - - - DNF-1 30 - - - DNF-1

Athletics

Event 5 Place Athlete Time Score 1 19:00.9 1 2 19:04.0 2 3 20:01.3 3 4 20:16.7 4 5 20:32.9 5 6 20:36.0 6 7 20:48.4 7 8 21:19.8 8 9 21:21.9 9 10 21:41.6 10 11 21:45.1 11 12 21:56.2 12 13 22:08.3 13 14 22:34.0 14 15 22:57.8 15 16 23:16.1 16 17 23:28.6 17 18 24:06.2 18 19 24:17.4 19 20 24:19.6 20 21 24:37.5 21 22 26:08.6 22 — DNF - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. - Elim. -

Final standings Place Athlete Total 3 10 5 4 5 27 1 4 15 7 1 28 2 3 10 3 12 30 4 18 5 1 1 10 35 5 20 7 4 6 3 40 6 11 9 3 8 11 42 7 14 14 16 2 9 55 8 26 2 6 12 14 60 9 12 1 9 23 18 63 16 6 17 11 13 63 9 8 21 19 6 63 12 13 15 18 20 2 68 13 19 16 14 14 8 71 14 5 17 13 17 20 72 15 15 27 2 10 19 73 10 23 20 5 15 73 17 24 12 19 15 4 74 18 4 28 7 18 21 78 19 28 18 8 22 7 83 20 23 11 27 13 16 90 21 17 19 25 16 17 94 22 32 26 22 21 22 123 — 31 20 23 9 - DNF-4 7 13 11 - - DNF-3 25 29 24 - - DNF-3 27 21 12 - - DNF-3 29 22 26 - - DNF-3 20 25 - - - DNF-2 6 24 - - - DNF-2 8 - - - - DNF-1 22 - - - - DNF-1 30 - - - - DNF-1

References

External links