Scoring - The Point System

I believe I found a mentioning that the pentathlon dates back to the Olympic Games of 708 B.C. The pentathlon consisted of running, long jumping, discus throw, javelin throw, and wrestling. Obviously, is was an event that was intended to show all-round development. The exact order of events and the precise method of determining a winner are not known. Wrestling is believed to have been the last event and may have decided the winner of the pentathlon if a participant did not have a clear advantage in the first four events.  Historians have somewhat been able, with some degree of certainty, to determine how the winner of the pentathlon was actually decided. If a point system had been employed, as in our modern games, there would be no difficulty in crowning a champion; however, no evidence has been produced to support a point system in the Greek pentathlon. With the absence of such a scoring system, we are only able only to present some theories and assumptions about the Greek pentathlon.

Whatever. I am certain that in the end everybody would be able to agree on who was the best athlete around. After all, it was every four years at the same venue and the conditions were equal to all athletes. Every half educated ESPN subscriber would be able to point out the best dude after four events. If two guys looked equally good, let 'em wrestle until one comes out the winner. Give him the glory and embarrass himself reciting his own poems.

For us, it cannot be done without a scoring system. It's a bit complicated but not that difficult. The scoring system is identical in the decathlon, heptathlon and pentathlon .

Okay, that done, we have to tackle the next step. How do they score Masters events? We have to go back to the WAVA-Tables to find adjustments for the different age groups. Here is our list, copied right out of the WAVA-Tables:

That should be it . Most likely, you will not find this stuff easily on line or elsewhere. It took me a while but at least I can play around with my training results and have a bit of understanding. The Greek guys would have written odes to visitors from outer space if somebody would have mentioned competitors in the 100 + age group. I include the guys and girls without even contemplating the astonishing fact that according to 2003 census data, we have 59639 fellow Americans over the age of 100 among us. That is one strong age group. Imagine them all showing up at the Nationals!

I combined all the tables above into one Excel spreadsheet as explained on the preceding page. Just click on the MULTITABLE button above on the left side and open the related Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. For now, I only included the 5-year age groups in the men's pentathlon. For all other events you only find the open score, the Masters age graded adjustments are not included. I'll get to it one of these days. Promised.