London 2012: The Countdown Series: Modern Pentathlon Preview

27 days to go until the first day of the London Olympics. This is a preview of the modern pentathlon at the London Olympics.

The modern pentathlon is comprised of five events, where this year at London, it will be contested at three venues. Before I get to the venues, what exactly is the modern pentathlon for newbies?

The modern pentathlon is comprised of five events:

• pistol shooting
• epee fencing
• 200m freestyle swimming
• show jumping
• 3km cross country run

The Copper Box (pictured above top) is the venue for the fencing. The freestyle swimming will take place in the Aquatic Centre, and everything else in the modern pentathlon will take place at Greenwich Park (pictured above bottom).

At Beijing 2008, Andrey Moiseyev's win in this event tied Lars Hall with the most wins in this event in the Olympics with two each.  Moiseyev is probably looking for his third straight win, becoming the first in this event to win three.

On the women's side, despite no repeat winner in the history of this event, Lena Schoneborn is the defending champion.

72 participants-36 men and 36 women-will compete in this event this year in London.

Up next: a look at equestrian.