Women's pentathlon

This article is about the track and field event. For the multi-sport event, see Modern pentathlon.

The pentathlon or women's pentathlon is a combined track and field event in which each woman competes in five separate events over one day (formerly two days). The distance or time for each event is converted to points via scoring tables, with the overall ranking determined by total points.^[1] Since 1949 the events have been sprint hurdling, high jump, shot put, long jump, and a flat race.^[2] The sprint hurdles distance was 80 m outdoors until 1969 and thereafter 100 m; in indoor pentathlon the distance is 60 m. The flat race was 200 m until 1976 and thereafter 800 m.^[3] In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw.^[4] Pentathlon is still contested at school and masters^[5] level and indoors.

Nadiya Tkachenko competing in the shot put event at the 1980 Olympic pentathlon, where she won the gold medal

History

Nataliya Dobrynska celebrating her pentathlon win at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships

The word pentathlon is derived from the Greek pente (five) and athlon (contest). The ancient Olympic pentathlon comprised a sprint, the javelin and discus throws, long jump, and wrestling. The modern pentathlon is a multi-sport event. In men's track and field, pentathlon competitions were held in the 20th century, but the ten-event decathlon became the standard multi-event contest.

The International Women's Sports Federation was established in 1921 and the first reported pentathlon was in the 1922 Women's Olympiad in Monte Carlo.^[2] The events were: 60 m, 300 m, high jump, two-hand javelin, and two-hand shot.^[2] In the late 1920s, the events were: shot and long jump on the first day, and 100 m, high jump, and javelin on the second day.^[2] The first world record recognised by the IAAF was set at the 1934 Women's World Games by Gisela Mauermayer.^[2]

From 1949 the events were: shot, high jump, and 200 m on the first day; 80 m hurdles and long jump on the second.^[2] The scoring tables were changed in 1954, and again in 1971.^[2] In 1961, the order of the events was changed to: 80 m hurdles, shot, and high jump on the first day; long jump and 200 m on the second, in 1971 the 80 m hurdles were changed to 100 m hurdles.^[2] From 1977 all were contested in a single day.^[2] Pentathlon was contested at the European Athletics Championships from 1950 to 1978, and at the Olympics from 1964 until 1980.^[2] The IAAF has not ratified world records in outdoor pentathlon since replacing it in 1981 with the heptathlon.^[6][7]

See also: List of European Athletics Championships medalists (women) § Pentathlon

Indoors

The pentathlon is still held indoors, where the heptathlon cannot be held as arenas are too small for the javelin throw. It was added to the IAAF World Indoor Championships as an unofficial event in 1993 and officially in 1995. The indoor pentathlon is held over a one-day period. Each athlete completes one event at the same time, then there is a 30-minute break until the next event. The current world record is 5055 points by Nafissatou Thiam at the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships.^[6]

Events
60 metres hurdles
High jump
Shot put
Long jump
800 metres

See also the categories Combined events at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and Combined events at the European Athletics Indoor Championships

All-time top 25

(60 m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, 800m)

• Correct as of March 2023.^[8]

Rank	Score	Athlete	Date	Place	Ref
1	5055	Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)	3 March 2023	Istanbul	[9]
2	5014	Adrianna Sułek (POL)	3 March 2023	Istanbul	[9]
3	5013	Nataliya Dobrynska (UKR)	9 March 2012	Istanbul
4	5004 A	Anna Hall (USA)	16 February 2023	Albuquerque	[10]
5	5000	Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR)	6 March 2015	Prague
6	4991	Irina Belova (RUS)	15 February 1992	Berlin
7	4965	Jessica Ennis (GBR)	9 March 2012	Istanbul
8	4948	Carolina Klüft (SWE)	4 March 2005	Madrid
9	4929	Noor Vidts (BEL)	18 March 2022	Belgrade	[11]
10	4927	Kelly Sotherton (GBR)	2 March 2007	Birmingham
11	4896	Ekaterina Bolshova (RUS)	7 February 2012	Moscow
12	4881	Brianne Theisen-Eaton (CAN)	18 March 2016	Portland
13	4877	Tia Hellebaut (BEL)	11 February 2007	Ghent
14	4866	Svetlana Moskalets (RUS)	3 February 1995	Chelyabinsk
15	4850	Natallia Sazanovich (BLR)	9 March 2001	Lisbon
16	4830	Nadine Broersen (NED)	7 March 2014	Sopot
17	4808	Urszula Włodarczyk (POL)	27 February 1998	Valencia
18	4805 A	Sharon Day-Monroe (USA)	21 February 2014	Albuquerque
19	4802	Austra Skujytė (LTU)	9 March 2012	Istanbul
20	4801	Larisa Turchinskaya (RUS)	11 March 1994	Paris
		Karin Ruckstuhl (NED)	2 March 1997	Birmingham
22	4792	Olga Kurban (RUS)	7 February 2012	Moscow
23	4784	Anna Bogdanova (RUS)	4 February 2009	Penza
24	4780	Sabine Braun (GER)	7 March 1997	Paris
25	4775	Rita Ináncsi (HUN)	11 March 1994	Paris

Notes

Below is a list of scores equal or superior to 4775 pts:

• Katarina Johnson-Thompson also scored 4983 (2019).
• Carolina Klüft also scored 4944 (2007), 4933 (2003).
• Jessica Ennis-Hill also scored 4937 (2010).
• Nafissatou Thiam also scored 4904 (2021), 4870 (2017).
• Natallia Dobrynska also scored 4880 (2012).
• Tia Hellebaut also scored 4867 (2008).
• Adrianna Sułek also scored 4860 (2023), 4851 (2022).
• Noor Vidts also scored 4823 (2023).

Annulled marks

• Tatyana Chernova of Russia's score of 4855 pts was annulled due to doping offence.
• Anastasiya Mokhnyuk of Ukraine's score of 4847 pts was annulled due to doping offence.

World record progression

Athlete	Country	Points	Event results	Place	Date
Sabine John	East Germany	4768	8.16 s, 1.74 m, 14.76 m, 6.61 m, 2:15.63	Moscow, Soviet Union	15 February 1985
Irina Belova	Russia	4991	8.22 s, 1.93 m, 13.25 m, 6.67 m, 2:10.26	Berlin, Germany	15 February 1992
Nataliya Dobrynska	Ukraine	5013	8.38 s, 1.84 m, 16.51 m, 6.57 m, 2:11.15	Istanbul, Turkey	9 March 2012
Adrianna Sułek	Poland	5014	8.21 s, 1.89 m, 13.89 m, 6.62 m, 2:07.17	Istanbul, Turkey	3 March 2023
Nafissatou Thiam	Belgium	5055	8.23 s, 1.92 m, 15.54 m, 6.59 m, 2:13.60	Istanbul, Turkey	3 March 2023

World records (WR) compared to Pentathlon Bests (PB)

Event	Type	Athlete	Record	Score	Difference in points scored	Ref
60 m hurdles
	WR	Devynne Charlton	7.65 s	1212
	PB	Jessica Ennis	7.91 s	1150	−62	[12]
High jump
	WR	Kajsa Bergqvist	2.08 m	1345
	PB	Tia Hellebaut	1.99 m	1224	−121
Shot put
	WR	Helena Fibingerová	22.50 m	1369
	PB	Eva Wilms	20.27 m	1217	−152
Long jump
	WR	Heike Drechsler	7.37 m	1299
	PB	Katarina Johnson-Thompson	6.89 m	1135	−164	[13]
800 m
	WR	Jolanda Čeplak	1:55.82 min:s	1182
	PB	Ester Goossens	2:04.42 min:s	1048	−134
Total	World record			6407
	Pentathlon bests			5774	−633

Olympic medalists

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1964 Tokyo details	Irina Press  Soviet Union	Mary Rand  Great Britain	Galina Bystrova  Soviet Union
1968 Mexico City details	Ingrid Becker  West Germany	Liese Prokop  Austria	Annamária Tóth  Hungary
1972 Munich details	Mary Peters  Great Britain	Heide Rosendahl  West Germany	Burglinde Pollak  East Germany
1976 Montreal details	Siegrun Siegl  East Germany	Christine Laser  East Germany	Burglinde Pollak  East Germany
1980 Moscow details	Nadiya Tkachenko  Soviet Union	Olga Rukavishnikova  Soviet Union	Olga Kuragina  Soviet Union

World Indoor Championships medalists

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1995 Barcelona details	Svetlana Moskalets (RUS)	Kym Carter (USA)	Irina Tyukhay (RUS)
1997 Paris details	Sabine Braun (GER)	Mona Steigauf (GER)	Kym Carter (USA)
1999 Maebashi details	LeShundra Nathan (USA)	Irina Belova (RUS)	Urszula Włodarczyk (POL)
2001 Lisbon details	Natallia Sazanovich (BLR)	Yelena Prokhorova (RUS)	Karin Ertl (GER)
2003 Birmingham details	Carolina Klüft (SWE)	Natallia Sazanovich (BLR)	Marie Collonvillé (FRA)
2004 Budapest details	Naide Gomes (POR)	Nataliya Dobrynska (UKR)	Austra Skujytė (LTU)
2006 Moscow details	Lyudmyla Blonska (UKR)	Karin Ruckstuhl (NED)	Olga Levenkova (UKR)
2008 Valencia details	Tia Hellebaut (BEL)	Kelly Sotherton (GBR)	Anna Bogdanova (RUS)
2010 Doha details	Jessica Ennis (GBR)	Nataliya Dobrynska (UKR)	Hyleas Fountain (USA)
2012 Istanbul details	Nataliya Dobrynska (UKR)	Jessica Ennis (GBR)	Austra Skujytė (LTU)
2014 Sopot details	Nadine Broersen (NED)	Brianne Theisen-Eaton (CAN)	Alina Fyodorova (UKR)
2016 Portland details	Brianne Theisen-Eaton (CAN)	Alina Fyodorova (UKR)	Barbara Nwaba (USA)[14]
2018 Birmingham details	Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR)	Ivona Dadic (AUT)	Yorgelis Rodríguez (CUB)
2022 Belgrade details	Noor Vidts (BEL)	Adrianna Sułek (POL)	Kendell Williams (USA)
2024 Glasgow details	Noor Vidts (BEL)	Saga Vanninen (FIN)	Sofie Dokter (NED)

Season's bests

Year	Score	Athlete	Place
2013	4,851	Ekaterina Bolshova (RUS)	Volgograd
2014	4,830	Nadine Broersen (NED)	Sopot
2015	5,000	Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR)	Prague
2016	4,881	Brianne Theisen-Eaton (CAN)	Portland
2017	4,870	Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)	Belgrade
2018	4,760 A	Erica Bougard (USA)	Albuquerque
2019	4,983	Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR)	Glasgow
2020	4,629	Noor Vidts (BEL)	Louvain-la-Neuve
2021	4,904	Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)	Toruń
2022	4,929	Noor Vidts (BEL)	Belgrade
2023	5,055	Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)	Istanbul

Contemporary outdoor pentathlon

As well as indoor events at all levels, outdoor pentathlon is still 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.

See also

• Sport of athletics portal