Most of you have probably heard of modern pentathlon. Unless you were in outer space for August 2012 it would have been difficult to miss Team GB’s Samantha Murray winning an Olympic silver medal in the women’s event, Britain’s last medal of the games. Maybe you signed up for the university team’s mailing list at the Freshers’ Fair, or maybe you just walked past the stand laughing at the people who are crazy enough to want to do five sports in a weekend, let alone a day. I doubt, however, that many of you have actually tried modern pentathlon.
The prospect is rather daunting; it not only involves running and swimming but pistol shooting, fencing and show jumping, sports that most people have never even tried their hand at, let alone competed in. So why do it? The origins of modern pentathlon go back to the adventures of a cavalry officer caught behind enemy lines whilst trying to deliver a message. He had to defend himself with his pistol and sword, ride a horse, swim across a river and run in order to complete his mission.
The founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, believed that this event “tested a man’s moral qualities as much as his physical resources and skills, producing thereby the ideal, complete athlete”. He campaigned to have modern pentathlon in- troduced into the Games and was eventually successful, with the event first being contested at Stockholm in 1912.
The demands of speed, strength, stamina and co-ordination, on top of the mental toughness and self-discipline required to be a successful pentathlete, meant that the sport was used for many years as part of the final examinations at several European military academies. This all sounds a very long way away from the comfort zone of our Oxford Bubble, but the sport is no less challenging and rewarding today.
A usual competition consists of a fencing match, a 200m swim, a twelve fence show jump on an unknown horse over a course of approximately one metre in height, and a combined event in which competitors have up to 70 seconds to shoot down five targets and then run one kilometre, repeated three times. The Oxford University Modern Pentathlon Association (OUMPA) caters for all levels, from complete novices to GB pentathletes; Christ Church’s Tom Lees recently finished a very impressive 4th place in the first national ranking competition of the year.
Notable alumni include Steph Cook, who won the gold medal in the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Competitions are taken seriously and the club has a very successful record, with the Men’s team having recorded 17 consecutive wins over Cambridge to date in the annual Varsity Match, equalling the record held by men’s boxing.
Modern pentathlon at Oxford University is full of vitality. Having explained the history, basic rules and Oxford competition record, I would agree that it doesn’t seem like the most easy or accessible sport. But I can honestly say (with personal experience on my side) that most people have only done one or two of the sports involved before coming to Oxford, and some are complete novices in them all.
As challenging as it is training for five sports, pentathletes are lucky enough to have the variety of training for a different one every day – there is rarely a dull moment! And if you still need convincing that pentathlon is the most demanding, diverse but most importantly enjoyable sport to try whilst at Oxford, make sure you follow the Varsity Match on from 4th April this year; with a potentially record-breaking winning streak up for grabs for the Men’s team, it’s definitely not one to miss.
