Sweden, Hungary and the former Soviet Union have dominated the sport in past years in fact, Sweden nearly shut out the competition every year modern pentathlon was competed between 1912 and 1948, except in 1936. That tide has turned, and this year the favorites include athletes from the Russian Federation, Hungary and Georgia. Janos MARTINEK (HUN), the gold medalist in Seoul in 1988 and Vakhtang YAGORASHVILI (GEO), the bronze medalist, in addition to SVATKOVSKI, will contend for medals.
Other contenders are Maciej CZYZOWICZ from Poland, who lived and trained in the United States; Peter STEINMANN from Switzerland, Igor FELDMAN from Kyrgyzstan, Per-Olov DANIELSSON from Sweden, Michael GOSTIGIAN from the United States, whose weak spot is the ride; and Christophe RUER from France, a great swimmer and big organizer in the sport.
Note: Athletes have not been confirmed as participants as of press time. Entrants will be finalized on 5 July 1996.
This is an official publication of The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Jennifer Knight. Special thanks to the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon.
| Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium. |