Held in just one day, the sport is almost as exhausting to watch as it is to take part in. Just 16 men and 16 women take part in five disciplines, in the following order: shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and running. The rules of those sports apply with minor variations relating to distances and times of bouts, while disqualification is rare for many infringements, which instead carry a points penalty.

Points awarded for the first four disciplines determine the starting order for the final event, the 3,000 metres run, in which the leading athlete starts the race first, with subsequent athletes starting according to their point scores, as in a handicap race, so that viewers can see the medal winners as they cross the line at the end of the run, as opposed to events such as the decathlon, in which a runner can end the final event first but not even win a medal.

Shooting: each person fires 20 shots at 20 targets with a 4.5-millimetre air pistol weighing no more than 1,500g. Each shot is fired at a distance of ten metres, with a 40-second time limit per shot, at a target with ten rings that carry a higher points value the closer they are to the bull's-eye. Scores, out of a maximum of 200, are translated into competition points on an international table that values a 172 score as 1,000 points. Each target score is worth 12 table points, so 173 equals 1,012.

Fencing: each athlete must fight once against every rival. Bouts last only one minute and the winner is the fighter who scores the first hit in that time. If neither score a hit, both lose, there being no time to argue in a one-day event. If competitors score hits within .04 of a second of each other, neither counts. For 1,000 competition points, an athlete must win 70 per cent of his of her bouts.

Swimming: 200 metres freestyle heats are seeded on entry times, as in the main swimming event. A time of 2min 30sec for men and 2min 40sec for women, very slow in the world of pure swimming, count for 1,000 points. Every tenth of a second above or below those times equals a point either way.

Riding: Two groups are formed on the basis of standings after the swimming and eight horses are allocated to riders in a random draw, with athletes ranked first and ninth, second and tenth and so forth having to ride the same horse. The riding covers a 350 metres to 450 metres stadium course with 12 jumps. A time limit is set depending on the size of the final course, with one minute allowed for every 350 metres. All athletes start with 1,100 points and lose scores for penalties that include three points per second over the time limit, 30 points for knocking down an obstacle, 30 if a horse steps in the water jump, 40 if the horse is disobedient and 60 for a fall.

Running: The 3,000 metres cross country run is a handicap race in which the leader is followed at timed intervals by those behind him or her in the points tally. Those who cross the line in the top three places are the medal winners.