How modern pentathlon works in Rio

STATE OF PLAY FOR THE MODERN PENTATHLON:

FENCING:

* Round robin epee contest

* The first athlete to score a direct hit wins the bout

* Athletes awarded points for how many victories they have from their total number of bouts

SWIMMING:

* Athletes seeded into heats for 200-metre freestyle races

* A time of 2min 30sec scores 250 points. Each 0.33 seconds below or above this time scores plus or minus one point

FENCING BONUS ROUND:

* It starts with the last-placed athlete battling the second-last placed

* Winner plays on, athletes get one point for every bout they win

RIDING:

* Athletes start the showjumping course with 300 points

* Points deducted for penalties

COMBINED EVENT:

* Athletes start in ranking order at handicapped time intervals

* Athletes run to the shooting range, hit five targets in a 50-second time period, followed by an 800m run. They do this four times.

* First athlete across the finish line is the gold medallist.