There are two events on the Olympic program, the men's individual and the women's individual competitions.

Each competition is comprised of five disciplines, contested on one day.  Points are awarded based on athlete performances in each discipline.  The disciplines are held as follows:

1)     Fencing – round robin, single hit épée bouts

2)     Swimming – 200m freestyle

3)     Riding – jumping over 12 obstacles

4)     Combined Event – three 1000m runs interspersed with three rounds of shooting at five targets each round

The combined event begins with a handicapped start based on the cumulative results to that point, thus the first athlete to cross the finish line at the end is the winner of the overall event.

Due to the variety of disciplines within the sport, modern pentathlon will be contested at three venues in London 2012.  The fencing will take place at the Handball Arena, while the swimming will take place at the Aquatics Centre.  Both the riding and combined events will take place at Greenwich Park.

London 2012 Storylines:
The Russian men will be looking to extend their country's win streak to four consecutive Games.  Dmitry Svatkovsky took the gold in Sydney 2000 while Andrei Moiseyev earned back-to-back victories in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and recently captured gold in the individual event at the 2011 World Championships.  No country has won four straight Olympic titles since Sweden took five straight from 1912 to 1932.

A technological innovation will make its Olympic debut as modern pentathlon introduces laser pistols instead of bullet-firing air pistols for shooting.  First used on a trial basis at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and brought to senior competition in the 2011 World Cup series, laser pistols improve the safety of the competition.

Canada's Outlook:
Canada has never won an Olympic medal in modern pentathlon.  The best ever result for a Canadian was the 13th place by Monica Pinette in Athens 2004.

The top Canadian women currently are veteran Donna Vakalis and newcomer Melanie McCann.  Vakalis finished 29th at the 2011 World Cup Final while McCann narrowly missed out on the podium at the Pan Am Games as she placed fourth overall.  Both would make their Olympic debuts in London 2012.

The best Olympic performance ever by a Canadian man was the 24th place by Joshua Riker-Fox in Beijing 2008.  He remains Canada's top male pentathlete, finishing 17th at the 2011 UIPM Senior World Championships and finished eighth overall at the Pan Am Games.

Other International Athletes to Follow:

MEN

Alexander Lesun – Russia

• Shot from obscurity to stardom in 2010, winning the silver medal in his world championship debut and reaching the podium in two World Cup events
• Won silver in the individual event and gold in the team event at the 2011 World Championships
• A naturalized Russian citizen originally from Belarus, he would make his Olympic debut in London 2012

• Won the World title in 2009 and the European title in 2010 along with the World Cup Final in both years
• Won bronze in the individual event and silver in the team event at the 2011 World Championships
• Will be making his Olympic debut in London 2012

• Became the 2008 Olympic Champion at age 22 years, 133 days, making her the youngest women's medallist ever in Olympic modern pentathlon competition
• Reached the podium in three of four world championships, winning bronze in 2010 and 2009 to go with a silver in 2007

• A dominant performer at the world championships, winning gold in 2010, 2008 and 2007
• Still seeking Olympic success in London 2012 after finishing 9th in Beijing 2008 and 12th in Athens 2004