The pentathlon was first documented in Ancient Greece, and included the discus and javelin throw.

A pentathlon is a contest featuring five different events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente (five) and -athlon (competition) (Greek: πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Five events were contested over one day for the Ancient Olympic pentathlon, starting with the long jump, javelin throw, and discus throw, followed by the stadion (a short foot race) and wrestling. Pentathletes were considered to be among the most skilled athletes, and their training was often part of military service—each of the five events in the pentathlon was thought to be useful in war or battle.

With the revival of the Olympic Games in the modern era, the pentathlon returned in two formats. The athletics pentathlon was a modern variation on the original events, with a competition over five track and field events. The modern pentathlon, invented by Pierre de Coubertin (father of the Modern Olympics), was a variation on the military aspect of the Ancient pentathlon. It focused on the skills required by a late 19th century soldier, with competitions in shooting, swimming, fencing, equestrian, and cross country running.

A prominent aspect of modern pentathlons is the points system, whereby each competitor is awarded a certain number of points based on their performance in each specific event. The overall winner is the competitor with the highest points total at the end of the five pentathlon events.

History[link]

Ancient Olympics[link]

The first documented pentathlon occurred in 708 B.C. in Ancient Greece at the Ancient Olympic Games, and was also held at the other Panhellenic Games.^[1] The name derives from Greek words for "five competitions". The event proved popular and lent itself to illustrations on pottery. It also featured in Greek mythology; the mythical hero Perseus fulfilled an oracle's prophesy by accidentally killing Acrisius with a discus while competing in the pentathlon.^[2] In mythology, Jason is credited with inventing the pentathlon, and he declared his friend Peleus the first winner of the event, after his victory in the wrestling.^[3] The wide variety of skills needed to compete meant that pentathletes were held in high esteem as physical specimens: in Rhetoric, Aristotle remarked "a body capable of enduring all efforts, either of the racecourse or of bodily strength...This is why the athletes in the pentathlon are most beautiful".^[4] 1912 Olympic gold medal winner Ferdinand Bie referenced that story after completing the race.

By the 77th Olympics, the athletic event was usually ordered into the triagmos (long jump, javelin throw, and discus throw), followed by the stadion foot race, and wrestling as the final event. Unlike modern athletics, the first three events did not appear as individual events outside of the pentathlon format. Other variations on the format included boxing or pankration instead of the stadion race.^[5]

Modern Olympics[link]

The pentathlon made its return as an Olympic event at the 1906 Games in Athens, consisting of a standing long jump, discus throw (ancient style), javelin throw, 192-metre run, and a Greco-Roman wrestling match.

The 1912 Summer Olympics saw the introduction of two new types of pentathlon. The first was the classic pentathlon, an athletics competition which was a variation on the Ancient Olympic pentathlon, comprising the long jump, javelin throw, 200 metres, discus throw, and a 1500 metres race. The competition featured at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics but was discontinued thereafter.

The second type of pentathlon introduced at the 1912 Olympics was the modern pentathlon, a sport invented by Pierre de Coubertin and modeled on the Ancient Olympic ideal of testing skills required by a soldier. Working from the template of a 19th century soldier fighting behind enemy lines, the contest comprises épée fencing, pistol shooting, freestyle swimming, show jumping on horseback, and a cross country run. Competitors score points based on their performance in each event and the winner is the one with the highest total points at the end of the fifth competition.^[6] The men's individual competition has been held at every Olympic Games since 1912, and a women's competition was introduced in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Also, a men's team event was held between 1952 and 1992.

An athletics pentathlon event for women was introduced at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, featuring the 80 metres hurdles, shot put, high jump, long jump and 200 metres. The 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics versions changed the format from 80 to 100 metres hurdles, and 200 to 800 metres. The event was discontinued in 1984, when it was replaced by the heptathlon, thus there is currently no athletics pentathlon at the Summer Olympics.

Styles[link]

Ancient pentathlon[link]

Halteres were held by athletes in the ancient long jump to push themselves further.

The format for the Ancient Olympic pentathlon varied in schedule and events. The stadion event was occasionally replaced by boxing or pankration. The discus throw was competed in the Greek style—the athletes would throw the discus from a raised platform. The long jump was aided by the use of halteres; stone weights which athletes would hold and swing to help propel themselves further. The stadion race was generally around 190 metres long, the length of the Stadium at Olympia.

Modern pentathlon[link]

All competitors face each other once in the fencing event.

The sport is governed by the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) and, in addition to the contests held at the Olympics, a world championships is held in non-Olympic years.

For much of its history, the modern pentathlon remained largely unchanged from the original events featured at the 1912 Olympics. However, in the 2000 Summer Olympics the 300 m freestyle swimming race was reduced to 200 m, and the 4000 m cross country race was reduced to 3000 m.

The fencing (épée) event is the only one in which competitors face off directly against each other, with each competitor having to duel all opponents once. The épée duel last up to one minute: the winner is the first to land a hit, but the bout is drawn if the minute elapses with both opponents unscathed. The riding discipline involves show jumping over a 350–450 m course with 12 to 15 obstacles. Competitors are paired with horses in a draw 20 minutes before the start of the event. The shooting discipline involves using a 4.5 mm air pistol in the standing position from 10 metres distance at a stationary target.

However, in 2009 the UIPM proposed that the running and shooting events should be combined into a single event, similar to the biathlon. Some commentators have suggested that the sport should be renamed as a "tetrathlon", given the number of competitions, but the sporting body emphasizes that five distinct skills are still applied in the course of the competition.^[6][7]

Athletics pentathlons[link]

Given that there are a large number of track and field events, there have been numerous pentathlons featuring a variety of events.

Classic pentathlon[link]

The Classic pentathlon was contested in Olympic Games from 1906 through 1924. In the 1912 Olympic Games, Jim Thorpe won both the pentathlon and decathlon titles, only to have them later taken away for professionalism. His titles were restored some 70 years later by the International Olympic Committee.

In the United States, this version of the pentathlon was contested as a Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championship event until 1978. With the breakup of the AAU, as a result of the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, track and field came under separate leadership. The Athletics Congress (TAC) (now USA Track & Field), chose to drop the pentathlon, as well as several other multi-event contests, as national championship events. The last National AAU Pentathlon Championships was held in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1978.

The pentathlon is also common in high school athletics. It is a different combination of disciplines, and is seen as a smaller version of the decathlon or the heptathlon. For boys, it is 110 m high hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump and a 1500 m run. For girls, it is 100 m high hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump, and an 800 m run.

Indoor pentathlon[link]

For each event, points are given based on a standard. These points can be calculated at the USATF website.^[8] 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.

Tia Hellebaut was the 2008 World Indoor pentathlon gold medallist.

Currently, Natalia Dobrynska holds the world record of 5013 points, which occurred on March 9, 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey. The International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF), the world governing body for athletics, has a women's pentathlon contest at the World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The athletes competing in the format are usually heptathlon specialists, as the events are very similar to that combined event. Until 2000, men also contested the indoor pentathlon.

Military events[link]

Military and naval pentathlon[link]

By the middle of the 20th century, many of the skills in the modern pentathlon were becoming less relevant to the modern soldier (such as fencing and horse riding). A French army officer, Captain Henri Debrus, adapted a military training method into a five event competition. The five events are: shooting, obstacle running, obstacle swimming, throwing, and cross country running.

The sport is governed by the International Military Sports Council (CISM) and an annual world championships has been held since 1950.

Aeronautical pentathlon[link]

Aeronautical pentathlon is a sporting event at some multi-sport events, such as the Military World Games. Despite the name, the sport has 6 events: shooting, fencing, orienteering, basketball skills, obstacle course and swimming. The idea is to prepare athletes for evading enemy soldiers. It is generally only participated by military Air Forces, and its first appearance at the Military World Games was in 2010.

Science Olympiad[link]

Pentathlon is a Science Olympiad Division B event that is a combination of 5 other events.

There are 4 participants, that complete five sets of physical and academic challenges. Team members will compete individually in four sets of challenges as a relay, ending in one team physical and academic challenge.

Teams may be asked to pass a "baton" (Hat, Baton, etc.) or other object from one member to another or just tag the next member. The physical and academic challenges will be the same for all teams.^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• US Champions in the men's pentathlon from USATF

Francesco De Gregori
Francesco De Gregori in 2008
Background information
Born	(1951-04-04)4 April 1951 Rome (Italy)
Genres	Folk rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1972-today
Labels	RCA Italy, CBS
Website	www.francescodegregori.net

Francesco De Gregori Officer OMRI (born 4 April 1951) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is popularly known as "Il Principe dei cantautori" ("The Prince of the singer-songwriters"), a nickname referring to the elegance of his lyrics.

He is often referred as singer-songwriter and poet, although he prefers to be identified simply as "artist".^[1][2]

Biography[link]

1970s[link]

De Gregori was born in Rome to a middle-class family, and spent some of his youth in Pescara before returning to the capital. His elder brother, Luigi, was a musician and had a personal career with the name of Luigi Grechi (the mother's surname), chosen later in order to avoid confusion with the more famous Francesco.

Influenced by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and the Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio de André, De Gregori started to perform his songs (mainly personal translations of American folk songs) at the Folkstudio, in Rome, which was already frequented by his brother. On one occasion De André himself is said to have listened to De Gregori's work and appreciated it.

Later De Gregori formed a band with his friends Antonello Venditti, Mimmo Locasciulli and Giorgio Lo Cascio, who all had success as singer-songwriters in the following years. De Gregori made his debut as a professional singer in 1972 with Theorius Campus, in collaboration with Venditti. The LP included the early masterpiece "Signora Aquilone" ("Kite Lady"), but Venditti had more songs and, having a better voice, earned better consideration by the label. The duo subsequently broke up.

De Gregori's next album, Alice non lo sa (1973), was a commercial failure. However, the title-track, the mysterious "Alice", scored some success in several popular music shows and is still included amongst his best works today. The 1974 album Francesco De Gregori (also known as the "Sheep" due to the unusual cover by Gordon Fagetter) showed even more experimental and sometimes obscure lyrics, and again was a failure. RCA Music, however, continued to trust in De Gregori's qualities: this trust was repaid the following year, when De Gregori released one of the most successful Italian LPs of the 1970s, Rimmel. This work contained several of his most famous songs: this time De Gregori's talent for unusual and poetic lyrics intermingled in a more mature way with the music. Lucio Dalla provided musical ideas for "Pablo", the unusual story of an Italian immigrant in Switzerland. Jazzy themes were present in songs like "Quattro cani" ("Four Dogs") and "Le storie di ieri" (The Stories of Yesterday"). The latter, a song about the years of Fascism, had been already released on De André's 1974 album Volume 8, as it had been co-written during a stay in the Genoese singer's Sardinian estate.

Bufalo Bill (1976) confirmed De Gregori's qualities, and contained at least two classics: the eponymous song and "Santa Lucia", the singer's own favourite. However, during a concert held in Milan in 1977, De Gregori, who had always declared his inclination to left-wing ideas and ideals, was fiercely contested by a group of extreme left agitators. In a mock "trial", they accused him of using a left-wing message solely to sell records and insisted that music should be free. De Gregori was at risk of injury in the fray, and decided to quit his musical career. During the following two years he therefore worked as a bookstore and music shop clerk. The episode, known as the "Palalido incident", influenced several works by other Italian singer-songwriters, such as Roberto Vecchioni's "Vaudeville". The "Palalido incident" was one of a number of such incidents. At this time, De Gregori married Alessandra Gobbi whom he had known since High School,and they had two sons, Marco and Federico.

In 1978, however, he returned with another inspired album, De Gregori, containing one of his most famous songs, "Generale". He declared that he felt this song much too important for him to continue staying away from the music world. The following year he joined his old friend Lucio Dalla with a highly successful live tour, entitled Banana Republic, and published a studio LP, Viva l'Italia featuring American musicians. The title track was later adopted as the Italian Socialist Party song, but De Gregori always opposed this choice.

1980s[link]

After a pause of several years, De Gregori returned with the album Titanic, the first part of which was like a concept album devoted to the famous episode of the sinking of the eponymous liner. The ballad "San Lorenzo", with a rare piano performance by De Gregori, concerns the dramatic episode of the bombing during World War II of the quarter in Rome by Allied planes. The freshness of the music and lyrics made this an outstanding commercial success, as well as earning the praise of critics. Titanic has been recently declared the best Italian LP of the period 1975-2005, in a poll conducted for the authoritative Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.

The following year de Gregori released a mini-LP containing his most long-standing success, La Donna Cannone. The 1985 album Scacchi e tarocchi ("Chess and Tarots"), was not as successful, but contained another classic, "La Storia" ("History"). De Gregori's new melancholic inspiration was confirmed by the subsequent Terra di nessuno ("Nobody's Land"). On the other hand, Miramare 19-4-89 showed a more bitter mood, but again was not as successful as his albums of the 1970s and early 1980s.

1990s and 2000s[link]

De Gregori in concert, March 2008

De Gregori recovered his bestseller status in 1992 with Canzoni d'amore ("Love Songs"). In the 1990s he released fewer studio albums than collections and live albums. His next original work was Prendere e lasciare ("Take and Leave", 1996): from this point his song and his musical performance were marked by an increasing Bob Dylan influence.

Il bandito e il campione of 1993 was a live collection that had remarkable success: the title track, its only studio song, was sung by De Gregori but the lyrics were by his brother Luigi Grechi. The title track of La valigia dell'attore ("The Actor's Suitcase", 1998) showed De Gregori at the best of his poetical and emotional capabilities again. The rest of the album, however, contained old pieces, plus some Dylan covers.

In 2001 De Gregori released his next studio album, Amore nel pomeriggio ("Love in the Afternoon") which is unanimously included amongst his best works. The song "Il cuoco di Salò" ("The Cook of Salò"), arranged by Franco Battiato, is one of De Gregori's best^{[citation needed]} and shows his typical attention to "everyday" figures (including outcasts and underdogs) and lives while dealing with historical themes.

Il fischio del vapore ("The Whistle of the Steam", 2002) was a collaboration with the folksinger Giovanna Marini, who had already worked with De Gregori in a song for Titanic. The album is a collection of old popular and social Italian songs from the 19th and the early 20th centuries.

A biography of Francesco De Gregori, "Quello che non so, lo so cantare" ("What I Don't Know, I Know How to Sing"), edited by Enrico Deregibus, was published by Giunti in 2003. In 2005, De Gregori won the Targa Tenco for the best Italian album of the year with Pezzi, an album with strong rock elements. In February 2006, only eleven months after the release of Pezzi, De Gregori released a new studio album, Calypsos, with nine previously unreleased tracks. Amongst these was "Cardiologia" ("Cardiology"), a song where the Roman singer-songwriter returns to using the words "Ti amo" ("I love you"), more than thirty years after "Pezzi di Vetro", and the song "Per le strade di Roma" ("By the Streets of Rome"), which outlines a merciless picture of the Rome of the third millennium, archetypical of the Italy of today.

In November 2006 a triple CD Tra un manifesto e lo specchio that collected together his most representative tracks was released. As well as the celebrated track "Diamante" ("Diamond"), this contained pieces written by Zucchero and included on his album Oro incenso e birra ("Gold, Incense and Beer"), a demo of "Mannaggia alla musica" ("Damn to the Music") from 1979, originally written for Ron and previously presented on the live album Bootleg, and the B-side of the single "Viva l'Italia" ("Long Live Italy"), the celebrated "Banana Republic", sung without Lucio Dalla.

2010s[link]

Dalla-De Gregori in 2010

2010 opens with the news (given on 2 January) of a new set of concerts with De Gregori and Lucio Dalla, over thirty years since the splendor of Banana Republic, at the Vox Club Nonantola, with the name "Work in progress".

The concert, which becomes sold out in advance, opens another series of concerts that are announced on the occasion of the date of Nonantola, and that will be held in May in Milan and Rome; during the evening the two presented, in addition to known songs, a new song called "Non basta saper cantare" and announce also the release of their new album called "Work in Progress".

On 22 March 2010, Dalla and De Gregori lead the new TV show on Rai 2, entitled Due, during which they perform individually and in duets, covers and songs from their repertoires. On 1 May 2011 the duo played at the May Day Concert in Rome.

Awards[link]

• 1988 - Targa Tenco: best album for Terra di nessuno
• 1989 - Targa Tenco: best album for Mira Mare 19.4.89
• 1998 - Targa Tenco: best song for La valigia dell'attore
• 1999 - Targa Tenco: best singer (with Giovanna Marini) for Il fischio del vapore
• 2005 - Targa Tenco: best album for Pezzi

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Francesco De Gregori

• Francesco De Gregori at the Internet Movie Database
• (Italian) Official site of Francesco De Gregori
• (Italian) Buonanotte Fiorellino

Elodie Clouvel is a French modern pentathlete.^[1] At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed in the women's competition, finishing in 31st place.

References[link]

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