Chloe Esposito won gold in the women's modern pentathlon at the Rio Olympics, Australia's first ever medal in the event.
Athletes compete in five events
Fencing, swimming, horse riding, running and shooting.
The modern pentathlon was created by the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
He created the event to simulate the experience of a 19th-century cavalry solider who has to return from behind enemy lines, running, swimming, shooting and sword fighting all the way.
In the pool, competitors race in heats in the 200m freestyle and earn points for their times (the faster you are, the more points you get).
In the fencing, athletes compete in a series of one-touch bouts with the epee.
Every athlete faces off against every other athlete once and scores points for every bout won (if you win lots of bouts, you win lots of points).
From there the athletes jump on horseback and compete in a show jumping competition where they must clear 10 obstacles over a 350-400m course (you start with 300 points, you lose points for penalties).
The final event combines running and shooting in a 3200m race where athletes must stop four times to shoot a laser pistol (yes, LASER PISTOLS) at a target 10m away.
Once an athlete hits the target five times (or 50 secs passes), they can resume running.
Oh, and since 1996, athletes have to do all of this on just a single day of competition.
No big deal.
How do you win gold?
Competitors earn points in the fencing, swimming and horse riding events.
In the final running and shooting combined event, the competitor with the most points starts first, with the rest of the field heading out at intervals after that.
Basically, the more points you having going into the last event, the bigger your head start.
From there, it is just a race to the finish.
First over the finish line wins the gold.
Got it. How did Chloe Esposito win her gold?
Here is how she finished in each event:
Swimming: 7th place and 303 points
Fencing: 13th place and 215 points
Riding: 19th place and 284 points
hose results meant Esposito was the seventh athlete to begin the combined running and shooting event.
From there she shot straight and ran over the competition to cross the finish line first.
Want a full breakdown of Esposito's incredible effort? Click here.
So athletes are like a real life Indiana Jones?
Pretty much.
The rules have changed a bit since the first pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics, but the same five sports have remained.
So less ancient tombs, but still gold waiting at the end.
Fencing, swimming, horse riding, running and shooting.
The modern pentathlon was created by the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
He created the event to simulate the experience of a 19th-century cavalry solider who has to return from behind enemy lines, running, swimming, shooting and sword fighting all the way.
In the pool, competitors race in heats in the 200m freestyle and earn points for their times (the faster you are, the more points you get).
In the fencing, athletes compete in a series of one-touch bouts with the epee.
Every athlete faces off against every other athlete once and scores points for every bout won (if you win lots of bouts, you win lots of points).
From there the athletes jump on horseback and compete in a show jumping competition where they must clear 10 obstacles over a 350-400m course (you start with 300 points, you lose points for penalties).
The final event combines running and shooting in a 3200m race where athletes must stop four times to shoot a laser pistol (yes, LASER PISTOLS) at a target 10m away.
Once an athlete hits the target five times (or 50 secs passes), they can resume running.
Oh, and since 1996, athletes have to do all of this on just a single day of competition.
No big deal.
How do you win gold?
Competitors earn points in the fencing, swimming and horse riding events.
In the final running and shooting combined event, the competitor with the most points starts first, with the rest of the field heading out at intervals after that.
Basically, the more points you having going into the last event, the bigger your head start.
From there, it is just a race to the finish.
First over the finish line wins the gold.
Got it. How did Chloe Esposito win her gold?
Here is how she finished in each event:
Swimming: 7th place and 303 points
Fencing: 13th place and 215 points
Riding: 19th place and 284 points
hose results meant Esposito was the seventh athlete to begin the combined running and shooting event.
From there she shot straight and ran over the competition to cross the finish line first.
Want a full breakdown of Esposito's incredible effort? Click here.
So athletes are like a real life Indiana Jones?
Pretty much.
The rules have changed a bit since the first pentathlon at the 1912 Olympics, but the same five sports have remained.
So less ancient tombs, but still gold waiting at the end.
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