Modern pentathlon consists of five events–pistol shooting, epee fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, and running.

A maximum score of 200 points in the shooting portion equates to 1,336 modern pentathlon points. Competitors fire 20 shots from 10 meters and earn 10 points by hitting the center of the target. The maximum score is 200, which earns 1,336 modern pentathlon points. A shooting score of 172 converts to 1,000 points. Each shooting point above or below 172 is worth 12 modern pentathlon points.

The fencing portion of the competition is a round-robin event. The first athlete to score a touch wins each bout. If neither earns a touch, both competitors are given defeats. In the Olympics, each athlete will have 35 bouts. An athlete that wins 25 will earn 1,000 points. Every victory above or below 25 is worth 24 points.

For the 200-meter swim, times of 2 minutes, 30 seconds for men and 2:40 for women are worth 1,000 points. From those baselines, every 0.33 seconds equals four points