thumb|[[Nadiya Tkachenko competing in the shot put event at the 1980 Olympic pentathlon, where she won the gold medal]]
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. Since 1949 the events have been sprint hurdling, high jump, shot put, long jump, and a flat race. In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw. Pentathlon is still contested at school and masters level and indoors.
History
thumb|[[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. The events were: 60 m, 300 m, high jump, two-hand javelin, and two-hand shot.
Indoors
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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.
{| class="wikitable defaultleft col3center"
|-
!scope="col"| Area
!scope="col"| Score
!scope="col"| Season
!scope="col"| Athlete
|-
!scope="row"| World
| 5055 || 2023 ||
|-
!colspan=4| Area records
|-
!scope="row"| Africa
| 4558 || 1997 ||
|-
!scope="row"| Asia
| 4582 || 2006 ||
|-
!scope="row"| Europe
| 5055 || 2023 ||
|-
!scope="row"| North, Central America<br>and Caribbean
| 5004 || 2023 ||
|-
!scope="row"| Oceania
| 4490 || 1999 ||
|-
!scope="row"| South America
| 4292 || 2016 ||
|}
All-time top 25
(60 m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, 800m)
- Correct as of 22 March 2026.
{|class="wikitable"
!Rank
!Score
!Athlete
!Date
!Place
!Ref
|-
!1
|5055
|
|3 March 2023
|Istanbul
|
|-
!2
|5014
|
|3 March 2023
|Istanbul
|
|-
!5
| 5000 || || 6 March 2015 || Prague ||
|-
!6
| 4991 || || 15 February 1992 || Berlin ||
|-
!7
| 4965 || || 9 March 2012 || Istanbul ||
|-
!8
| 4948 || || 4 March 2005 || Madrid ||
|-
!9
|4929
|
|18 March 2022
|Belgrade
|
|-
!10
| 4927 || || 2 March 2007 || Birmingham ||
|-
!11
|4922
|
|9 March 2025
|Apeldoorn
|
|-
!12
| 4896 || || 7 February 2012 || Moscow
|-
!13
|4888
|
|22 March 2026
|Toruń
|
|-
!14
| 4881 || || 18 March 2016 || Portland ||
|-
!15
| 4877 || || 11 February 2007 || Ghent ||
|-
!16
| 4866 || || 3 February 1995 || Chelyabinsk ||
|-
!17
|4850 || || 9 March 2001 || Lisbon ||
|-
!18
|4839
| || 22 March 2026 || Toruń ||
|-
|-
!19
|4830
| || 7 March 2014 || Sopot ||
|-
!20
|4808 || || 27 February 1998 || Valencia ||
|-
!21
|4805 || || 21 February 2014 || Albuquerque ||
|-
!22
|4802 || || 9 March 2012 || Istanbul ||
|-
!rowspan=2|23
|rowspan=2|4801
| || 11 March 1994 || Paris ||
|-
| || 2 March 1997 || Birmingham ||
|-
!25
|4792
| || 7 February 2012 || Moscow ||
|}
Notes
<small>Below is a list of scores equal or superior to 4792 pts:</small>
- 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).
- Anna Hall also scored 4860 (2026), 4831 (2026).
- Saga Vanninen also scored 4843 (2025), 4821 (2025).
- Sofie Dokter also scored 4826 (2025).
- Noor Vidts also scored 4823 (2023).
Annulled marks
- Tatyana Chernova of Russia's score of 4855 pts was annulled due to doping.
- Anastasiya Mokhnyuk of Ukraine's score of 4847 pts was annulled due to doping.
World record progression
{| class="wikitable"
!Athlete
!Country
!Points
!Event results
!Place
!Date
|-
| Sabine John || || 4768 || 8.16 s, 1.74 m, 14.76 m, 6.61 m, 2:15.63 || Moscow, Soviet Union || 15 February 1985
|-
| Irina Belova || || 4991 || 8.22 s, 1.93 m, 13.25 m, 6.67 m, 2:10.26 || Berlin, Germany || 15 February 1992
|-
| Nataliya Dobrynska || || 5013 || 8.38 s, 1.84 m, 16.51 m, 6.57 m, 2:11.15 || Istanbul, Turkey || 9 March 2012
|-
| Adrianna Sułek || || 5014 || 8.21 s, 1.89 m, 13.89 m, 6.62 m, 2:07.17 || Istanbul, Turkey || 3 March 2023
|-
| Nafissatou Thiam || || 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)
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:97%; text-align:right"
!width="100px"|Event
!width="35px"|Type
!width="190px"|Athlete
!width="85px"|Record
!width="60px"|Score
!width="70px"|Difference in points scored
!Ref
|-
! rowspan=3| 60 m hurdles
|-
| WR
| align="left"| Devynne Charlton || 7.65 s || 1212 ||
|-
| PB
| align="left"| Jessica Ennis || 7.91 s || 1150 || −62||
|-
! rowspan=3| High jump
|-
| WR
| align="left"| Kajsa Bergqvist || 2.08 m || 1345 ||
|-
| PB
| align="left"| Tia Hellebaut || 1.99 m || 1224 || −121
|-
! rowspan=3| Shot put
|-
| WR
| align="left"| Helena Fibingerová || 22.50 m || 1369 ||
|-
| PB
| align="left"| Eva Wilms || 20.27 m || 1217 || −152
|-
! rowspan=3| Long jump
|-
| WR
| align="left"| Heike Drechsler || 7.37 m || 1299 ||
|-valign="top"
| PB
| align="left"| Katarina Johnson-Thompson || 6.89 m || 1135 || −164 ||
|-
! rowspan=3| 800 m
|-
| WR
| align="left"| Keely Hodgkinson || 1:54.87 min:s || 1198 ||
|-
| PB
| align="left"| Ester Goossens || 2:04.42 min:s || 1048 || −150
|-
! rowspan=2 | Total
! colspan=3|World record || 6423 ||
|-
! colspan=3|Pentathlon bests || 5774 || −649
|}
Olympic medalists
World Indoor Championships medalists
{|
|-
|1995 Barcelona<br>
|
|
|
|-
|1997 Paris<br>
|
|
|
|-
|1999 Maebashi<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2001 Lisbon<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2003 Birmingham<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2004 Budapest<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2006 Moscow<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2008 Valencia<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2010 Doha<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2012 Istanbul<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2014 Sopot<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2016 Portland<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2018 Birmingham<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2022 Belgrade<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2024 Glasgow<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2025 Nanjing<br>
|
|
|
|-
|2026 Toruń<br>
|
|
|
|}
World leading scores
{|class="wikitable defaultleft col-4center sortable"
!Year!!Score!!Athlete!!Place
|-
|2013
|4,851
|
|Volgograd
|-
|2014
|4,830
|
|Sopot
|-
|2015
|5,000
|
|Prague
|-
|2016
|4,881
|
|Portland
|-
|2017
|4,870
|
|Belgrade
|-
|2018
|4,760
|
|Albuquerque
|-
|2019
|4,983
|
|Glasgow
|-
|2020
|4,629
|
|Louvain-la-Neuve
|-
|2021
|4,904
|
|Toruń
|-
|2022
|4,929
|
|Belgrade
|-
|2023
|5,055
|
|Istanbul
|-
|2024
|4,773
|
|Glasgow
|-
|2025
|4,922
|
|Apeldoorn
|-
|2026
|4,888
|
|Toruń
|}
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
References
External links
- Women's indoor pentathlon rankings from IAAF
- IAAF list of Women's pentathlon records in XML
- Women, Pentathlon/Heptathlon Track and Field Statistics, including: