pentathlon |
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The pentathlon was performed in the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece. The name pentathlon is from the Greek word pente which means five and the Greek word athlon which means competition. There were five different events in the pentathlon which were all held on the same day. The pentathlon began with the long jump followed by the javelin throw, discus, stadion, and wrestling. Only the most skilled athletes could be pentathletes. The long jump was different that the modern-day long jump. The jumpers used halters or weights to help them jump farther. The discus event is described here. The javelin event was also different than the modern version. Javelin throwers used a leather strap, or amentum, to throw the javelin. Modern day javelin throwers do not use a leather strap. The stadion was a sprint of almost 200 yards. The final event, wrestling, was held at the temple of Zeus in a sand pit. The victor was awarded a crown made from olive leaves.