Pentathlon, more precisely known as women’s pentathlon is a combined event of track and field athletic events contested by female athletes only over one day. The result is determined by combining performances of the athletes in all the events with the highest scorer be the winner. Pentathlon was a part of Ancient Olympics comprising of Sprint, Javelin throw, Discus throw, Long jump and Wrestling.
In 1921, the International Women’s Sports Federation was formed and organized the first recorded pentathlon in 1922 as the Women’s Olympiad with the events- 60m, 300m, high jump, two-hand javelin and two-hand shot. Later, the sport is modified several times and now is contested indoors by female athletes only. The sport is officially a part of the IAAF World Indoor Championships since 1995.
Men's & Women's events
- 60 meters hurdles
- High Jump
- Shot put
- Long Jump
- 800 meters
Scoring
Each athlete is awarded points for their performance in each discipline and the winner is the one who scores most points after all five events.
Tie
In the case of a tie, the athlete with most points in the majority of the events wins. Still, if the tie remains, the athlete with most points in any one of the event wins.
Chief Judge
Coordinate the work of the judges and validate the attempt of the athletes by indicating a fair jump/throw with a white flag and a foul jump/throw with a red flag.
Other Judges
Record all attempts made by the competitors and verify the results at the end of each round.
Starter
Responsible for starting the race by giving commands like “on your marks” and “set,” for firing the start gun and also responsible for making disqualifications and warnings.
Timekeeper
Responsible for recording the running times of the athletes.
