Modern Pentathlon

When I was thinking about doing a "new thing a day" in December, one of the things on my list was to attend some sort of sporting event I had never seen before. Lacrosse was a possibility, as was competitive eating. And come to think of it, I've never watched a professional table tennis match in person, either.

But a different opportunity arose, and I took it. Sammy Achterberg, one of the contenders for the 2012 Olympic team, has been swimming with us at Foothills from time to time. Her sport is the Modern Pentathlon, and she was competing yesterday at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. I decided to go down to watch.

A little background: The five sports in the original Olympic pentathlon were running, wrestling, long jump, javelin, and discus. It was designed to test skills that would be useful in warfare, though I confess I'm at a loss to explain how throwing a metal frisbee came in handy in ancient battles. When the Olympics were rebooted in 1912, they updated the events to represent skills needed by soldiers of the time -- so the "modern" pentathlon consists of swimming, fencing, running and shooting, and jumping over stuff on a horse. I'm not sure how often turn-of-the-century soldiers had to swim during battles, but the other stuff sorta makes sense.

What I do wonder about, though, is why they don't just call it "pentathlon". I mean, when they change the rules in football, they don't rename the sport as "modern football". When they added the designated hitter, they didn't suddenly call it "modern baseball". It's still five events -- so what if they're not exactly the same as what the musty old Greeks did?

Anyway, I really enjoyed watching the events. The horseback riding was at a different venue later in the day, so I missed that part, but I did see the swimming, fencing, and run-shoot. It was a tad less formal than I expected for an Olympic Training Center event (spectators were allowed to mill around in the middle of the competition area, for example), and I was a bit surprised to learn that the coaches for the US team are all Europeans. But it was definitely fun to watch, and very educational.

The swim was a standard 200m freestyle race. Nothing new there. Sammy is in the far lane -- 3. She swam well, and had the fastest 200 she had ever swum in that pool.



Fencing was next. The women probably had about an hour to rest, refuel, and change into their fancy fencing outfits. (Yeah, I'm sure there's a formal name for the rig they have to wear, but I didn't ask that question.) They wear stretchy pants suitable for lunging, plastic armor to protect the chest, and of course, the wire mesh facemask that probably makes them feel like Darth Vader. But the key component is the jacket that contains the wiring. They plug the back of their top into a spring-loaded cord retractor, and that connector is wired through to a plug in their glove where they then connect to their sword. (OK, they don't call it a sword. It's an épée. Sure. Whatever.)

The tip of the weapon apparently has a sensor that detects a "touch"...which is the official term for when you successfully stab your opponent. It appears to be legal to stab them anywhere, as long as it's tip-first -- slashing might be effective in actual combat, but it doesn't do you any good in this competition. Anyway, since the sensor detects the impact when the tip slams into your victim, they have to test the mechanism before the bout. The official places some sort of weighted gizmo onto the sword and (as far as I could tell) if the official scoring machine beeps, it means you're good to go. Each competitor must duel each of the other contestants, and the scoring is based on how many "victories" and "defeats" you achieve. Each "touch" is counted as a victory, and each time your opponent stabs you first, you record a defeat. As I understand it, they usually only fence until someone scores a touch...but since there were so few women in this competition, each bout consisted of three touches.

Most bouts began with the athletes tapping their blades together, trying to get a feel for the way the other person moved. One would be the aggressor, moving forward while their opponent retreated. The combat area is a long metal strip on the floor--it was not unusual to see the women dance back and forth along the entire length of this strip as they tested each other's defenses. At some point, though, someone would lunge in -- and in a microsecond the beeper would go off and the score would have been made. Sometimes it was the aggressor who got the touch, and sometimes the defender would parry the attack and thrust home with a counter. Often, the two weapons would land at the same time, resulting in a "double-touch", in which no one would score.

That made me wonder how many ancient duels actually ended with both participants being run through at the same time. Seems a messy business. But as a sport, it's fascinating.

And quick. Most of the time, I couldn't tell exactly what happened, or who was successful. But it went by quickly, and there was lots of action. Sammy started strong, but seemed to be taking the worst of it by the end of the fencing segment. Then it was on to the run-shoot portion of the competition.

This was very cool. They had these groovy laser pistols they'd fire at a little round spot on the wall. If the laser hit the spot, one of the lights would turn green. When you had five green lights (or had run out of time -- the limit was 70 seconds), you'd put down the weapon and take off for a 1000 meter run. The run course was a loop around the building, so that at the end of the 1000, you'd be back at the shooting range for another five bulls-eyes. Then run another thousand...and then do it one more time. So the total distance was 3000 meters.

That might not seem like a lot to some of the ultra-runners I hang out with, but the real challenge is to take aim quickly and nail a target while puffing and panting from a hard sprint. I was amazed at how accurate these women were under those conditions. They're required to "reload" (ie, reset the firing mechanism) between each shot, and yet Sammy was still able to hit the target five times in less than 20 seconds. It's gotta be quite a challenge to run fast AND shoot fast, without getting any kind of a break in between.

Most of the women were able to hit all five targets within the time limit, though. And after the third round of shooting, it's down to an all-out sprint to the finish line. It was especially fun to watch these athletes crank up the speed across the Training Center campus on such a gorgeous day. Then, of course, there were high-fives and hugs all around.

I did shoot some video, but haven't reviewed it yet. If it's any good, I might post it in the next week or so. But it was an exciting competition to watch in person, and I'm glad I went.

One postscript, though, just to put some of these skills in perspective: After they finished the run-shoot event, Sammy invited me to try my luck on the pistol range. I had taken a marksmanship class in college, and the targets didn't look like they were that far away...and I didn't have to do any running. It looked fun, so I thought I'd light up a few greens just for grins.

The pistols are charged with compressed air, so that they do have a small kick when you pull the trigger. They're not exactly weightless, either...so I can imagine how all that prior swimming and sword waving would wear down your shoulder strength, too. But I hadn't done anything all day long, so I had all the advantages.



Clint Eastwood, I am not. After missing several dozen shots, Sammy showed me how to turn on the laser sight. The little red dot showed up on the far wall--so all I had to do was squeeze the trigger when it was over the target. Looked easy. But wasn't. I didn't count my attempts, but the folks who were still hanging around the range all got a good laugh from my efforts. I kept trying (and missing), until I could tell that it was no longer funny...merely pitiful. I handed the pistol back to its owner, and Sammy packed up her gear and left to go get ready for the horse riding.

I was sorry to miss that segment. They are assigned an unfamiliar horse, and after just a few minutes of warmup, have to lead the animal through a series of challenging jumps on a timed course. I don't know that much about horses, but that sounds like something that requires a real comfort level with all things equestrian. So, if the pistol demonstration wasn't enough, the requirement to ride would ensure that you'll never see me competing in the modern pentathlon. Perhaps if they update it to the "ultra-modern pentathlon" (online pizza ordering, TV remote control management, nacho preparation, and the beer/bathroom race), I might give it a try. Otherwise, I'm more than content to remain a spectator.

If you ever get a chance to watch pentathlon competition, I'd highly recommend it. And since Sammy has a legitimate shot at making the US Olympic Team for the London Games, if you see her at the pool be sure to wish her luck. And have a great day!