Women's 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 Irina Belova, who scored 4991 points in February 1992 in Berlin.

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)

External links

• All Time Indoor Lists - Pentathlon - IAAF