Pentathlon: What is it and how do you bet on it
The modern pentathlon can also go by the name sports pentathlon. They are a combination of several different sports disciplines. In this article, we will talk about the most important things to know about pentathlons if you are going to bet on them in the bookmaker’s office.
A pentathlon today includes:
- Fencing
- Swimming
- Jumping
- Running and shooting a gun
This means we have four sports at once (one is not a typical sport), in which the athlete should be equally good. Pentathletes are considered ideal athletes.
A few words first about the history of the sport. The first pentathlon competitions were held at the ancient Greek Olympic Games. The participants at that time were mostly soldiers.
The pentathlon today got its modern look in the early 20th century when Pierre de Coubertin asked to include a mix of various competitions in the Olympic Games. Until the middle of the century, only officers were allowed to compete.
Pentathlon rules
Pentathlons consist of five disciplines, two of which (shooting a gun and running) are combined into one. Usually, competitions are held according to a standard schedule: first is fencing, the swimming, next is jumping and finally running and shooting.
Each individual sport has its own standard, and by completing them the athlete will receive 250 points (300 points in the jumping competition). If the standard is surpassed and the athlete performs to a higher standard, they will receive extra points. If the participant does not reach the norm, they will have points removed. The athlete should try and aim for a standard score of 1000 in each discipline.
Fencing is the first and longest stage. All participants must fight each other in a circular system. The duel goes to the first successful shot. To meet the standard, you need to apply 70% of accurate injections (i.e. win 70% of fights).
Swimming is a 200-meter freestyle swim. The standard is set at two minutes 30 seconds. For every second after this time, points begin to get taken away.
Jumping is the only discipline where the athlete is given 300 points. The scoring is complex – it is necessary to not only quickly complete finish the race, but also to make a few technical errors as possible.
Running and shooting with a laser pistol is the final stage. Here, participants line up depending on how they scored on the previous stages. The athlete who has so far achieved the best results will start first, followed by the rest in order: every four points difference between opponents scores allows a one-second quicker start.
Types of pentathlon betting
Betting on winning. Before the start of the competition, bookmakers assess the chances of winning for each participant and then offer their odds. The player can bet on the victory of any athlete.
Betting on the distribution of final places. Often there are few bets offered on winning (too obvious difference in class between the athletes), so bookmakers offer bets on who will be in the top three winners, in the top 6 or the top 10 at the end of all competitions.
Betting on the comparison of results. A very interesting type of bet. The player is invited to compare which of the athletes will finish higher by the end of the tournament. The intrigue here is that you can compare the opponents of the middle level or even the weakest.
Betting on a win in one specific discipline. One of the toughest bets. Predicting a winner at the end of the entire pentathlon is much easier than predicting who will win in a separate sport. Many athletes focus on one stage to then hold the gained advantage.
How to bet on a pentathlon
Pentathlons have a huge amount of small and medium nuances that only a deeply dedicated analyst can know. It is almost impossible to find a qualitative forecast for this sport. Most experts appear during major competitions like the Olympic Games.
This sport depends entirely on one athlete. What form is the athlete in, is he ready for a particular competition, does he have any health problems- all of this is important information to understand. It is also worth considering the importance of the competition – small competitions often have the most surprises, as the best athletes do not put as much emphasis on them.
It is worth knowing the complete athletic background of the athletes: which sport did he focus on, how long did he play and what were his greatest accomplishments. This information will help you to better determine which athlete to bet on at a particular stage of the competition.
When betting on the competition, you should pay special attention to the horses. Athletes meet their four-legged teammates only 20 minutes before the start. Carefully follow the test races and observe how the horse obeys the rider, whether there are any barriers when passing the more difficult elements, etc.
The last type of pentathlon program (running and shooting the pistol) is handled differently by each athlete. Pre-examine whether the participant had an athletic past or how he was engaged in running. Runners in pentathlons very often will snatch the lead in the final stage from those who performed better in the first three stages. There are even “finishers”, who finish the first few stages in the middle and then shoot up multiple places in the fourth and fifth rounds of the competition.
Which bookmakers are taking bets on pentathlons?
Unfortunately, the pentathlon is overlooked by bookmakers. The sport appears in the betting lines only during the Olympic Games. Even during the World Pentathlon Championship, it is rare to see offers for this competition in bookmakers’ lines.
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