Section 5: Rules of Play
5.1 Fencing — Ranking Round
- Format: Full round-robin — every athlete fences every other athlete in one-touch épée bouts
- Bout duration: 1 minute per bout. If no touch is scored within 1 minute, both athletes are recorded as having lost (double defeat).
- Scoring: A victory = 1 point. A defeat (including double defeat) = 0 points. Total victories are tallied after the round-robin.
- Points conversion: The athlete who achieves 70% victories receives a baseline of 250 points. Each additional victory above 70% adds points; each victory below 70% subtracts points. The exact formula is defined in the UIPM Competition Rules.
- Bonus Round: After the ranking round, athletes are seeded into a bonus round (single-elimination bracket) for additional points. Each bout in the bonus round is one-touch, 45 seconds. Winners earn bonus points, losers receive no deduction.
- Rules applied: FIE épée fencing rules govern all bouts, including right of attack, target area (entire body), and electronic scoring
5.2 Swimming — 200 m Freestyle
- Distance: 200 m freestyle (any stroke permitted, though front crawl is universally used for speed)
- Pool: Athletes swim in heats, seeded by personal best times. The fastest seeds swim in the final heat for competitive motivation.
- Timing: Electronic touchpad timing to 1/100th of a second
- Points conversion: A baseline time of 2:30.00 = 250 points. For every 0.33 seconds faster, 1 point is added. For every 0.33 seconds slower, 1 point is deducted. For example: 2:00.00 ≈ 341 points; 3:00.00 ≈ 159 points.
- Rules applied: World Aquatics rules govern the swim, including start procedures, stroke legality, turn rules, and disqualification criteria (false start, illegal turn, etc.)
5.3 Obstacle Course (2028+)
- Format: Timed run through a sequential series of obstacles. Each athlete runs the course individually.
- Completion: Athletes must complete each obstacle to continue. Falling off or failing an obstacle results in either a time penalty (typically 10 seconds) or a mandatory restart of that obstacle (with accumulated time).
- Maximum attempts: Athletes may have a limited number of attempts at each obstacle (typically 2–3) before receiving a bypass penalty and moving to the next obstacle.
- Points conversion: Time-based scoring converted to points using a formula similar to the swimming conversion. The baseline time and conversion rate are set by the UIPM for each standardized course configuration.
5.4 Laser Run — Combined Running and Shooting
- Handicap start: Athletes start in order of their cumulative points from fencing, swimming, and obstacle course. The leader starts first. Each point difference = 1 second of time deficit. This system means the first athlete to cross the finish line wins the gold medal, creating a dramatic, television-friendly finish.
- Structure: 4 shooting series, each followed by an 800 m running lap (shoot-run-shoot-run-shoot-run-shoot-run).
- Shooting series: At each shooting stop, the athlete must hit 5 targets. Each hit extinguishes one of the 5 lit zones on the electronic target. The athlete shoots as many times as needed to hit all 5 targets.
- Time limit per shooting series: 50 seconds. If 5 targets are not hit within 50 seconds, the remaining targets are automatically extinguished and the athlete departs for the running lap. This effectively penalizes poor shooting with lost time.
- Target distance: 10 m from the shooting line
- Running laps: 4 × 800 m on a flat course. Athletes run from the shooting range, complete the lap, and return to the range for the next shooting series.
- Finish: After the 4th running lap, athletes cross the finish line. The first to cross wins the overall competition.
5.5 Competition Day Schedule
All five disciplines are completed in a single day (approximately 5–6 hours of competition time). A typical schedule:
- Morning: Fencing ranking round and bonus round (2–3 hours)
- Midday: Swimming heats (1 hour)
- Afternoon: Obstacle course (1 hour)
- Late afternoon/evening: Laser Run finale (30–40 minutes)