Women's pentathlon

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The women's pentathlon was contested in the Olympics from 1964 until 1980, and it was replaced in the 1984 Games with the heptathlon. It had a different set of events than the ancient pentathlon. The events were shot put, high jump, a hurdling race, sprint and long jump.

During the indoor season, pentathlon is contested instead of heptathlon because of facility limitations. Indoor arenas are incapable of hosting events such as the javelin throw. The events in indoor pentathlon are 60 metres hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800 metres. The current world record belongs to Irina Belova, who scored 4991 points in February 1992 in Berlin.

The pentathlon is also common in high school athletics. It is simply a smaller version of the decathlon or a heptathlon. For boys, it is 110 high hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump and a 1500m run. For girls, it is a 100 high hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump, and an 800m run. The pentathlon is used because it is less stressful on the athletes than a full multi and because many high school meets only last one day, it allows the event to be contested in the time limit.