To all Pentathlon Canada athletes, coaches, supporters and friends from around the world.
As we continue to emerge from the dark days of COVID – albeit carefully and cautiously, I’m taking this opportunity to kick off a new series called Pentathlon Canada’s President’s Profile. The first profile is one of Alberta’s finest - Coach Darragh O’Malley.
Two of his most recent achievements are coaching the Canadian Team at the Youth World Championships in Italy and completing his Level 3 UIPM coaching certification. Darragh’s background includes epee fencing (previous national fencing team member), triathlon, ultra running and he is a certified personal trainer. With this wealth of experience combined with his demonstrated dedication, it’s no wonder he’s one of our best.
Darragh started coaching modern pentathlon athletes 8 years ago and continues to this day at the Ares Pentathlon & Fencing Club. His coaching philosophy is straightforward: coach the athlete for excellence in sport and excellence in life.
Thank you, coach Darragh O’Malley.
Rod Stavelely, Pentathlon Canada President
Darragh at the 2022 Youth World Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy, September 2022. Team members: Quinn Schulz, Connor Chow, Emmett Gosche, Jacob Li and Lucan Marsh.
Darragh: coaching at Ares Pentathlon & Fencing Club.
Darragh enjoying some well-deserved downtime with his dog Paddington.
About Modern Pentathlon
Modern pentathlon, a core Olympic sport, is the only sport created specifically for the Olympics. The founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre von Coubertin, developed the sport as the ultimate skill-and-strength test of a soldier. Modern pentathlon debuted at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics and has featured in every subsequent edition of the Games. In 2000, the women’s competition was added. It is still the most varied and demanding multisport test in the Olympic family.
What does a Modern Pentathlete do?
Modern pentathletes compete in a four discipline (five sports) competition consisting of one-touch pe fencing (round-robin and bonus event), 200-metre freestyle swimming, equestrian show-jumping and lastly, a combined laser pistol shooting and running event (referred to as Laser Run). The final Laser Run event is incredibly exciting. Athletes are seeded in order of their total points accumulated from the three previous sports. The number of seconds each athlete starts after the highest-ranked competitor is determined by their points difference.
The first running lap is followed by four Laser Run laps. The first athlete crossing the finish line wins. Each Run is 600 metres. At the Laser pistol range, the athlete must complete five shots on the target’s bullseye within 50 seconds. Athletes who complete five shots before the 50-second time limit start running immediately.
The relay events (men, women and mixed) include all five sports, adjusted for teams of two. For more information, please contact:
George A. Skene OLY
Media, Pentathlon Canada
Cell: 416-560-2571
media@pentathloncanada.ca