OLYMPIC HISTORY

Sweden has one of the finest of all Olympic records in the pentathlon. Swedes won all the medals of every colour at the first three Games and lost only the bronze medal in the two subsequent Games. In front of Hitler at Berlin, Gotthadt Handrick broke the Swedish run, a shock that left the Swedes so short on form that they failed to win a medal of any colour.

Sweden regained its composure after the Second World War, however, winning in 1948, 1952 and 1956, the latter two courtesy of Lars Hall, the only man in history to retain the pentathlon title. The next two Games were won by Hungarians, while Bjorn Ferm became the last Swede to win the title in 1968.

Since then, the event has been dominated by former Soviet bloc nations. Even in defeat, it was a Russian, Uduard Zenovka, who stole the show in Atlanta in 1996. Four years earlier in Barcelona, Zenovka enjoyed a commanding lead after four events but his horse threw him and he failed to retrieve his helmet when he should have done, resulting in the loss of a vast and critical number of points and a bronze medal. Six months later, Zenovka was the driver of a car that crashed in an accident that killed his passenger, Oksana Kostina, the rythmic gymnast. Zenovka was charged with drunk driving. He returned to training in time for Atlanta. Once again, Zenovka reached the final event in first place but was paased on the run by Aleksandr Parygin, of Kazakhstan, in the final 20 metres.

Team events were held in pentathlon between 1952 and 1992, Hungary the most successful nation with four titles. Britain won the event in 1976.

In Sydney, there will only be individual events. The men's favourite is Andrejus Zadneprovskis, of Lithuania, pressed hard by Sebastien Deleigne, of France, and Dmitri Svatkovsky, of Russia. Among women, those chasing gold are Paulina Boenisz, of Poland, and Anna Sulima, Fabiana Fares, of Italy, and Janna Dolgacheva-Shubenok, of Belarus. Watch out, however, for strong challenges from the host nation.