Modern Pentathlon set to front up Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games

• LA28 programme puts Pentathlon at the start of Games for first time since 1992
• Early morning start ensures maximum global viewership and engagement
• ‘We are back where we belong,’ says UIPM President Rob Stull OLY

Modern Pentathlon has restored its traditional place at the front end of the Olympic Games schedule.

A four-day Pentathlon competition will take place across the first four days of the Los Angeles 2028 programme, July 15-18, with 9am daily starts (local time) that ensure maximum global viewership and engagement.

The news emerged as the LA28 organising committee celebrated three years to go until the Opening Ceremony of the first Games to take place in the United States since 1996 – 44 years after it was last held in Los Angeles – with the release of a day-by-day competition schedule.

Tickets are not yet on sale, but the publication of dates enables Pentathlon fans to start planning their Olympic experience at the Valley Zone* in 2028 – and for those who will not travel to California, the timing of the competition could hardly be better in terms of global viewing potential.

UIPM President Rob Stull OLY said: “With three years to go until LA28, this announcement is great news for Pentathlon fans and of course, we could not be happier to be returning to our traditional prime slot in the front of the programme.

“When the Olympic Games founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, introduced his newly created Modern Pentathlon to the world in 1912, it took place right at the start of the Olympic Games in Stockholm, demonstrating the importance of the initiative to the Baron and to the IOC.

“In Atlanta in 1996 we lost this prominence and Pentathlon was pushed further and further back in the schedule, finally competing with multiple other marquee gold-medal events in the final days of each Games.

“My Olympic experience as an athlete was in the last three Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992) where Modern Pentathlon was positioned at the start of the Games, and I have to say it was an immense thrill to have the opportunity to attend the Opening Ceremony and then go straight into competition the next day, knowing that a huge portion of the global TV audience would be taking an interest.

“To be back at the top of the show is hugely significant, and fans will have an incredible experience whether they are spectators in the Valley Zone, watching on TV or engaging online. Our transformed sport is a lot more viewer-friendly nowadays and it’s very exciting to think how many people will tune in to our Semi-finals and Finals in 2028 based on this optimal schedule with four days of broadcasting.

“One of the first things people are going to see when they tune in to the LA28 Olympics on July 15 is our new knock-out, elimination Fencing format, followed immediately by our Ninja-style Obstacle racing discipline – which will be a brand new feature of the Olympics debuting a new product that makes LA28 truly unique.”

With Women’s and Men’s Semi-finals in the first two days leading into Finals on the last two days, the dates and times for the four Modern Pentathlon sessions are as follows (Pacific Time):

• Saturday July 15: 09:00-13:30
• Sunday July 16: 09:00-13:30
• Monday July 17: 09:00-11:00
• Tuesday July 18: 09:00-11:00

To save global fans doing their own time-zone calculations, here are some regional start times based on 09:00 Pacific Time:

• 11:00 Mexico City (MEX)
• 12:00 New York (USA)
• 13:00 Brasilia (BRA)
• 17:00 London (GBR)
• 18:00 Central Europe
• 18:00 Cairo (EGY)
• 19:00 Kyiv (UKR)
• 21:30 New Delhi (IND)
• 00:00 Beijing (CHN)
• 01:00 Seoul (KOR)
• 01:00 Tokyo (JPN)
• 02:00 Sydney (AUS)

* Valley Zone is the new name for the LA28 complex in which the Modern Pentathlon competition will take place, replacing the original name of Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area.