Trinity Students Compete at the London Olympics 2012

Natalya Coyle (Modern Penthatlon) will compete on Sunday 12th August

8.00 Fencing

12.35 Swimming

14.35 Riding

18.00 Combined Event

Modern Pentathlon competitions are staged over a single day.

Fencing: Athletes compete against all others, using the epée. The first athlete to score a hit wins the bout. If neither scores within one minute, both athletes register a defeat. An athlete scores 1,000 points for winning 70 per cent of his/her bouts. Each win above or below the 70 per cent mark scores +/- 24 points.

Swimming: Athletes are seeded into heats dependent on their personal best times over the previous 12 months. A time of 2:30 for the 200m freestyle race scores 1,000 points. Each 0.33 seconds above or below this time scores +/- four points.

Riding: Athletes start with 1,200 points. They lose 20 points for each jump they knock down, 40 points for a refusal to jump or disobedience, and 60 points for a fall. They lose four points for each second they are over the allotted time (which is determined by the course size). If an athlete takes twice the allowed time, his/her participation in the event is terminated.

Combined event: The athlete with the most points from the previous events starts first. Athletes after that start in order at handicapped time intervals of one second for every four points. They must run to the shooting range, hit five targets in a 70s time period, followed by a 1,000m run; three times over.

The first athlete to cross the finish line in the combined event is the winner of the gold medal.

Mark Kenneally will compete in the Men's Marathon at 11am on Sunday 12th August.