2. Fencing
In the sport of fencing there are three different weapons; foil, sabre, and epee. The pentathlon competes in epee fencing. Each competitor bouts every other competitor in the field for one touch. The athletes are given one minute for someone to score that touch, and if neither athlete scores in that time, then both pentathletes register a defeat. The athlete who scores a touch registers a win and the other a defeat. At the end of fencing everyone in the competition the percentage of wins is converted into pentathlon points. Basically 70% wins gives a pentathlete the standard of 1000 pentathlon points, and each win above or below that is worth approximately + or - 24 points. The number can vary depending on how many athletes are in the field. Sheila's best score in fencing is in the mid 800's. Her goal is to achieve at least 50% wins in the fencing competition.

3. Swimming
The distance competed in pentathlon is the 200 meter freestyle. Usually the world cups are held in a 50 meter (long course) pool, but sometimes they are in a 25 meter (short course) pool. Short course is faster than long course, because you have more turns. The 1000 point standard in pentathlon is 2:40 for women, 2:30 for men, and this is the same for short course or long course. Sheila holds the pentathlon world record in both short course (2:03) and long course (2:07). For every 1/3 second you go faster or slower than the 1000 point standard, you get + or - 4 points (this equates with 12 points per second). Sheila is 33 seconds faster than the standard, so her highest swimming score is 1396 (33 x 12 = 396). Back in her swimming days, Sheila's best long course time was 2:00, and her best short course time was 1:59. She swam over 50,000 meters per week then, and now, since she has four other sports to train, her goal is to get in approximately 20,000 meters per week.

4. Show Jumping
The wild card event in pentathlon, pentathletes do not compete on their own horses. They draw a number out of a hat and then have only 20 minutes to warm up on a horse they have never ridden before. The maximum height for pentathlon jumps is 4 feet, and there are 12 jumps. One of the 12 jumps is a double combination, and one jump is a triple combination, so there are actually 15 obstacles that are jumped. The pentathletes start out with 1200 points and cannot gain more points. There are only deductions from 1200, so the goal is to go through the course clean without penalties and score a perfect 1200 point ride. The deductions come from knocking down a rail (-28 points), refusing a jump (-40 points), falling off the horse (-60 points), and if you go over the time allowed to complete the course (-4 points per second over time). Sheila has scored 1200 point rides 3 times (US Nationals 2006, Moscow World Cup 2007, and Cairo World Cup 2007). She has had some disaster rides as well, not necessarily from drawing a bad horse, but just from drawing a difficult horse. She is working hard to increase her riding skill so that she can handle the difficult horses. Her mom is worried about the horse riding, just as she was worried about the cycling in triathlon, but she just prays often and can't wait for the sports career to be over :)

5. Running
The final event of the day is a 3k run. This distance is 200 meters shy of 2 miles. The exciting part of this is that the race is set up pursuit style. In other words, the athlete with the most pentathlon points after the first 4 events starts out on the run first. Then, every athlete goes after the leader based on how many points they are behind. Every 4 points is equal to one second in the run, so if an athlete is 100 points behind the leader, then he/she goes 25 seconds after the leader. The athlete to cross the finish line first on the run is the winner of the entire pentathlon competition. Athletes are sent off at all different intervals; some just one second behind the leader (if they are only 4 points behind), and others 5 minutes behind (this is usually the dread of someone who has drawn a difficult horse, or a horse who was in a bad mood :)... Sheila has been there before :)

Pentathlon!
The competition takes place in one day, but it is not like triathlon where your transition is part of the race. Instead, pentathletes pack up after one event and then move on to the next to warm up. The average time between events is about 1/2 hour to 1 hour.

Hopefully this gives you a somewhat clear picture of one of the sports with a rich Olympic history. The pentathlon is actually based on the skills a courier would need to have during war-time. General Patton is the most famous US Olympic pentathlete, having placed 5th in the 1912 Olympics. The modern pentathlon has been in the Olympics since 1912 for men, but women just started competing in the Olympics in Sydney 2000.

Have fun, follow each competition to see if Sheila can keep her nerves steady on the shoot, have a strong fence, and stay on the horse during the jumping. It is the spirit of being brave enough to risk. This is living.