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A proposal has been made to combine the shooting and running portions of the sport, whereby athletes will be asked to alternate between the firing range and the track.

It was Pierre de Coubertin's belief that the modern pentathlon, above all other sports, "tested a man's moral qualities as much as his physical resources and skills, producing thereby the ideal, complete athlete." This new sport was enthusiastically adopted with its inherent demands of courage, coordination, physical fitness, self discipline and flexibility in ever-changing circumstances. These circumstances also apply to the evolution of the sport as well.

In 1912, modern pentathlon was introduced to the Olympic Games and has since remained in the Olympics today; however the format of the sport has changed many times.

From 1912 through 1984, modern pentathlon took place over a five-day period. From 1984 through 1992 the format of the sport was experimented with and transitioned to a four-day event. Finally in 1996, modern pentathlon arrived at the current schedule of a one-day event. Follow each event through its evolution from 1912 to now:

The shooting event began as 20 shots from a .22-caliber pistol to a target 25 meters away. Originally, athletes were given three seconds to hit a turning target. They shot five rounds at a time, repeating four times. This format was very stressful and created several blunders for athletes over the years -- the most famous of which was 26-year-old second lieutenant George S. Patton, who missed a shot all together in the 1912 Olympiad. It was very unfortunate, because he finished the other four events with great success, and 19 out of the 20 shots were clustered. In the 1972 Olympics, Janusz Peciak lost all hope of medaling by forgetting to put a bullet into the magazine (luckily, he remembered to load his pistol in 1976 when he won the gold medal). In 1996, the shooting event changed to an air pistol, which was much safer, and switched to a stationary target 10 meters away.

Fencing was an all-day event that was formatted as a giant round-robin one-touch tournament. Each bout lasted at most three minutes, and if no one scored a point it was considered a double defeat. This format was occasionally troublesome, for example during the 1976 Olympic Games, the athletes began fencing at 9am and did not finish until 1am the next morning. Currently bouts are limited to one minute, and the numbers of athletes are reduced so the event can be completed in two hours.

The swim has not changed all that much since 1912; it originated as a 300-meter course and in 1996 the course was shortened to 200 meters. While the event was in transition to a four-day event, organizers experimented with having the shooting and swimming events on the same day.

The riding event began as a five-kilometer cross-country race against time and has evolved into a 400-meter show jumping course with 12 obstacles. In 1993, it was officially changed to the current riding format. Eduard Zenovka of Russia was troubled by part of the riding event when he dropped out of medal contention due to a 200-point penalty for losing his helmet during the ride. During the Sydney Olympics, two athletes -- American Chad Senior and Russian Elizabeta Suvorova -- lost all hope of earning a medal after riding the same horse. Senior had almost a 100-point lead over the rest of his competitors before the ride but then bombed the course, finishing in sixth place. Suvorova had a similar lead but placed seventh overall.

The running event started as a four-kilometer staggered start. The starting order has always been dictated by the points ranking of the other four events. Between 1984 and 1992, organizers experimented by making the run the same day as the shoot. Finally in 1996, the event was shortened to three kilometers. Zenovka also had bad luck with this event during the 1996 Olympics: He tripped and fell 30 meters from the finish line, losing his lead to Alexandre Parygin of Kazakhstan.

Now you are about to see the biggest change ever made in modern pentathlon. There is a proposal to change the event order and combination. Fence first, then swim and ride. The last two events will be a combination of the shooting and running portions, handicap or staggered start. Athletes shoot 10 targets, run a 1,000-meter loop, return to the shooting range and shoot again, this time at five targets, run another 1,000-meter loop, shoot again at five targets and complete a final 1,000-meter run. The shoot is to stationary targets and you can shoot as many shots as you want, but you must knock the target down before you can begin the run.

For very excited athletes that have a problem with shooting, this may be a good format. However, one should keep in mind that running three separate 1,000-meter lengths is a lot different from running 3,000 meters non-stop. This will be very exciting for the spectators.

If the International Federation accepts the proposal in December in Guatemala, it will be a much shorter competition. Instead of a 10-hour competition, it will be over in only seven hours.