The Women's Pentathlon event, which consisted of the 100 meter hurdles, 800 meters, high jump, long jump and shot put, was introduced as an Olympic event in 1964. It was replaced by the Women's Heptathlon in 1984, which added the 200 meters and javelin throw, and it has been in this format for the past four decades. Over the two events, Great Britain has seen the most success, winning three golds and eight total medals. When the results of athletes representing Germany, East Germany and West Germany are combined, then German athletes have won the most overall medals, with a total of eleven. The most successful athlete in this event is the United States' Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who won a silver medal in 1984, before winning back-to-back golds in 1988 and 1992. In 1996, Ghada Shouaa made history by winning Syria's first and only gold medal (as of May 2020). Two athletes have been stripped of medals won in this event, they were 2008 silver medallist Lyudmila Blonska of Ukraine, and the bronze medal winner in 2008 and 2012, Russia's Tatyana Chernova (who only won the 2008 bronze after Blonska's disqualification).
Medal count by country in the Women's Pentathlon and Heptathlon at the Summer Olympics from 1964 to 2016
*No longer exists/competes at the Olympics.
**Includes medals won by the Unified Team of 1992 (which was made up of athletes from all former Soviet States, except the three Baltic states).
This data was collected using the official Olympic.org site, as well as a spreadsheet from the Guardian that includes data from 1896-2008 (available here), 2012 and 2016 data was compared with that from Encyclopaedia Britannica, and several news outlets were used to update the table when medals were reassigned (i.e. for doping offenses).
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olympic.org, & The Guardian. (May 15, 2020). Medal count by country in the Women's Pentathlon and Heptathlon at the Summer Olympics from 1964 to 2016 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved December 14, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1118266/olympics-womens-pentathlon-heptathlon-medal-table-since-1964/
olympic.org, und The Guardian. "Medal count by country in the Women's Pentathlon and Heptathlon at the Summer Olympics from 1964 to 2016." Chart. May 15, 2020. Statista. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1118266/olympics-womens-pentathlon-heptathlon-medal-table-since-1964/
olympic.org, The Guardian. (2020). Medal count by country in the Women's Pentathlon and Heptathlon at the Summer Olympics from 1964 to 2016. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: December 14, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1118266/olympics-womens-pentathlon-heptathlon-medal-table-since-1964/
olympic.org, and The Guardian. "Medal Count by Country in The Women's Pentathlon and Heptathlon at The Summer Olympics from 1964 to 2016." Statista, Statista Inc., 15 May 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1118266/olympics-womens-pentathlon-heptathlon-medal-table-since-1964/
olympic.org & The Guardian, Medal count by country in the Women's Pentathlon and Heptathlon at the Summer Olympics from 1964 to 2016 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1118266/olympics-womens-pentathlon-heptathlon-medal-table-since-1964/ (last visited December 14, 2024)
Medal count by country in the Women's Pentathlon and Heptathlon at the Summer Olympics from 1964 to 2016 [Graph], olympic.org, & The Guardian, May 15, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1118266/olympics-womens-pentathlon-heptathlon-medal-table-since-1964/