Modern(ish) Pentathlon

I like the idea of the Modern Pentathlon. I like the fact that it's full of all the skills a good army officer would need to function in the field:

Fencing, pistol shooting, horse riding, cross country running and swimming.

Did I mention that this was a "army officer" circa 1912?

I'm especially fond of the fact that they've now combined the running and shooting events so that it's more like the Biathlon - run for a bit then shoot something; run for a bit more then shoot something again.

It's all been a bit controversial, apparently, with people saying it was more like a tetrathlon than a pentathlon - which is something I'd find insulting if I were a biathlete, as surely it would imply a Biathlon was actually a monothon?

Personally, I think they should combine all of the events, and it should always be competed in knock-out rounds between two competitors.

Picture it: one-on-one, Competitor A vs Competitor B. It all takes place in one big course. They start with the fencing round, and the loser has to lie on the ground for the start of the first running leg. That leg takes them to a lake, which they have to swim across. Then they mount the horses and complete a lap of the circuit, then it's the running and shooting rounds - only instead of stopping at a shooting station, they have to carry the guns with them and shoot at targets located around the track whilst still running. Just to make things more interesting, you can't actually go past a target until you've hit it, so if you miss you have to stop and keep trying. Bad marksmanship slows you down.

The first person over the finish line wins.

Who wouldn't watch that?