Baron Pierre de Coubertin, widely credited as the founder of the modern Olympics, succeeded in having a version of the ancient Games highlight of the Pentathlon incorporated into the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games. It has remained in the Olympic programme ever since, retaining its essential elements despite several significant modernisations.
Modern Pentathlon’s moment came at the 14th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Budapest when, as the Baron later wrote, “the Holy Ghost of sport illuminated my colleagues and they accepted a competition to which I attach great importance.”
In the
Olympic Review
of 1911, Coubertin expanded on his vision of a new pentathlon which was “certainly destined to play a great role, maybe even become the dominant event of future Olympiads. The man able to present it… is a true athlete, a complete athlete. No doubt the ambition of young people will be tempted by such a programme."
In its original format, designed to embrace the spirit of its ancient counterpart, modern pentathlon involved shooting with pistols, fencing, freestyle swimming, riding over obstacles on horses assigned by lot, and finishing with a cross-country run.
The basic premise behind De Coubertin’s modern pentathlon is of a soldier being ordered to deliver a message. He starts on the back of an unfamiliar horse, but is forced to dismount and fight a duel with swords. He escapes, but is trapped and has to shoot his way out with a pistol. He then swims across a river before completing his mission with a long run through woods.
It was Coubertin’s belief that it would be this event, above all others, that “tested a man’s moral qualities as much as his physical resources and skills, producing thereby the ideal, complete athlete.”
Sweden's Gosta Lilliehook was the winner of the first Olympic modern pentathlon title at Stockholm in 1912 and was presented with his medal by Baron Pierre de Coubertin ⓒHulton Archive/Getty Images
The Union Internationale de Pentathlone Moderne (UIPM) was formed on August 3, 1948, at a conference in Sandhurst, Kent, during the London Olympic Games.
The UIPM thus took over governance of the sport from the International Olympic Committee. The following year it adopted competition rules and held the first Modern Pentathlon World Championships in Sweden.
Between 1957 and 1993 the UIPM had the additional responsibility of governing biathlon, and in 1967 it took on the name of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon (UIPMB).
The biathlon became part of the Winter Olympic programme at the 1960 Games in Squaw Valley, meaning that the UIPMB was then the only sports governing body to have authority over both a summer and a winter sport with the Olympic programme.
Since 1993, biathlon has been governed by the International Biathlon Union, and the UIPMB has reverted to the UIPM.
The first three Presidents of the UIPM were Swedish - Tor Wibom from 1948 until 1949, Gustaf Dyrssen 1949 until 1960) and Sven Thofelt 1960 until 1988). Russian Igor Novikov took up the position from 1988 to 1992, since when it has been held by Germany’s Klaus Schormann.