Breaking down the Sex Barrier: The Emancipation of Female Modern Pentathlon in West Germany (1967-1981)

Fencing, shooting, horse-riding, swimming and running – five good reasons for men to argue that women are wrong when asking to be modern pentathletes but also five good reasons for women to counter that they are definitely right. Even though as early as 1912 a British woman had asked to compete in the sport, another 69 years passed until the first female World Championships were held in London in 1981. This paper deals with women's struggle towards an equal participation in modern pentathlon. Whereas the development of men's modern pentathlon remained for the first 37 years exclusively within the Olympic domain, the female movement primary gained ground through regional and national activities. Germany was among the most active countries. After the president of the German Modern Pentathlon Federation had paved the way for women's participation by fighting for its administrative recognition at the end of the 1960s, the strength of female modern pentathlon slowly increased at home as well as abroad. However, men still stood against an equal sports practice of both sexes for more than a decade. The creation of female modern pentathlon World Championships in 1981 was finally not only a result of women's enthusiasm, tenacity and patience but also of men's concession to a female competency which could not be denied any longer.