The start of the qualification process for athletes hoping to compete in the modern pentathlon at Rio 2016 is about to begin. The Asian Championship, which takes place in Beijing (China) on 1-6 June will be the first qualifying tournament of the sport and will result in a total of 12 Olympic places. Five spots will be up for grabs for the Asian continent in the men’s event and five in the women’s; one place will be available in both the men’s and the women’s pentathlon for countries from Oceania (check out the qualification process for the Rio 2016 Games)

Modern Pentathlon will have a busy month. After the Asian Championship, the final stage of the World Cup will take place in Minsk, Belarus between 12 and 14 June; the winners in the men’s and women’s event will qualify for Rio 2016. Then, starting on 28 June, the World Championship will begin in Berlin, Germany, with six places (three for each sex) to be awarded the best placed athletes who have still not qualified for Rio 2016. Each country has the right to up to four representatives at the Games (two per sex); a total of 72 athletes. As host country, Brazil has the right to two spots guaranteed, one each for men and women.

Although the sport is not well known among Brazilians, the host country has a good chance of securing a medal at the Deodoro Olympic Park, where the modern pentathlon will be held. Yane Marques, from the north-eastern state of Pernambuco, took up the sport in 2003 and just one year later became the national champion. Winning bronze in London 2012, she became the only Olympic medallist in the sport from the Southern Hemisphere.

How it works

With its origins in the military training of antiquity, the pentathlon was part of the Olympic Games of 708 BC. The “modern” element refers to the new disciplines introduced by Baron Pierre de Coubertin when the Games were revived for the modern era.

The contest begins with a qualifying round of fencing. Following this, athletes compete in five disciplines over the course of a single day, accumulating points in each of them. The first event is the first the 200m freestyle swimming. Immediately afterwards, the competitors will fence again, with victory resulting in one more point. Next comes horse-riding, in which the athletes must complete a 300-400m course with 12 obstacles. The combined results of these first three events will determine the qualification for the mixed discipline of running and shooting. Competitors have to run four circuits of 800m pausing between each one at a stand to shoot at a target 10m away with an air pistol. The athlete who finishes first wins gold.

Qualifying for the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a continual process and the final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). Places are recommended by national federations or the sporting organisations of each country and its respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee, who will decide the final places. Follow the race to qualify for Rio 2016 here.