Heck, S: Von spielenden Soldaten und kämpfenden Athleten

The nationalistic ambience that prevailed in Europe in the late 19th Century gave room for the birth of a competition which was useable both for sportive and military purposes. In Stockholm in 1912 the modern pentathlon (fencing, swimming, riding, shooting and running) celebrated its Olympic debut. Although the sport remained thereafter for more than 100 years continuously an Olympic discipline, its origins, which extend to the second half of the 19th Century, yet remained unexplored. The present work which includes both the military and the Olympic genesis of the modern pentathlon shall clear up with this. The evaluation of archival documents, above all those of the International Olympic Committee, the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne, the Swedish Organising Committee of the Olympic Games 1912 and the Swedish Military Sport Federation, has contributed to answering this question, just as the analysis of diverse press material from several countries, including Sweden, France, England, Germany, Austria and the USA.