Modern pentathlon at the 1948 Summer Olympics

At the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, a single modern pentathlon event was contested. The event was held at the Aldershot Lido outdoor pool in Hampshire.

Competition format
The modern pentathlon consisted of five events. The competition used a point-for-place system, with the lowest total across the five events winning.


 * Riding: a show jumping competition. Riders started with 100 points and could lose points either through obstacle faults or going over the 10-minute time limit. Negative scores were possible. Ties were broken by the specific time taken, with the quicker rider winning.
 * Fencing: a round-robin, one-touch épée competition. Score was based on number of bouts won.
 * Shooting: a rapid fire pistol competition, with 20 shots (each scoring up to 10 points) per competitor.
 * Swimming: a 300 m freestyle swimming competition.
 * Running: a 4 km race.

Participating nations
45 athletes from 16 nations competed at the London Games: