When I sent a message on this topic, on November 21st, it included the remark,
"The men's indoor and outdoor pentathlons differ so greatly in their events
that they might be considered totally different disciplines. They share
only the long jump.
> Men's Indoor Pentathlon Men's Outdoor Pentathlon
>
> 60m hurdles long jump
> long jump javelin
> shot put 200m
> high jump discus
> 1000m 1500m
Among the off-list replies was one from Ed Grant that explained why the two
pentathlons differ so greatly. It contained lots of information that was
new to me that I thought would be of interest to other list subscribers, so
I asked Ed if I could forward it to the list. He agreed. This is what he
wrote:
>The outdoor pentathlon and decathlon have very different roots. The
>pentathlon was simply a version of the ancient Greek event with the 1500
>replacing a wrestling match between the top performners in the other four
>events. (I believe that Bill Toomey once competed in a pentathlon---he
>specialized in its for a couple of years before taking up the
>decathlon--which ended with a wrestling match)
>The decathlon was adapated from the old all-around event which was a
>one-day affair with some very exotic events---a mile walk, the 56-pound
>weight throw, etc.; I believe its roots were in Gaelics sports.)
>I was actually involved in the running of the last all-around competition
>I know of (it was won by a former NYU athgletenamed Bill Urban) and also
>conducted one of the last national pentathlon championships at The
>Lawrenceville School.
>New Jersey, of course, was the home of the deathlon and pentathlon all
>through the 1940s which was why the 1948 Olympic Trials wound up in
>Bloomfield.
>Two NJ Hall of Fame members, known better for individual events, were also
>pentathlon champs in their time: Eulace Peacock (sprints, LJ) and John
>Borican (800)
Ed Grant
