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| Event type

Individual, Men

Date18 – 22 July 1976
StatusOlympic
LocationCentre équestre olympique, Bromont, Québec / Stade d'Hiver de l'Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec / Stand de tir olympique, L'Acadie, Québec, CAN / Piscine olympique, Montréal, Québec / Stade olympique, Parc olympique, Montréal, Québec
Participants47 from 17 countries
FormatScoring by point tables.

Pavel Lednev (URS) was a heavy favorite, having won the World Championships in 1973, 1974, and 1975. Lednev took the lead after the second phase when he won the fencing section. Lednev was sixth in shooting to maintain his lead, followed by Czechoslovakia’s Ján Bártů and Poland’s Janusz Pyciak-Peciak. Lednev and Pyciak-Peciak were not strong swimmers. Neither was Bártů, but his 13th place finish in that section pulled him ahead of Lednev and into the lead after four phases, as Pyciak-Peciak dropped to fifth place. But the cross-country run was a strong point for the Pole, and Pyciak-Peciak finished third in the run to move ahead and win the gold medal. Lednev hung on for second place, while Bártů dropped back to the bronze medal. In the swimming American Bob Niemann set a pentathlon world record for the 300 metre freestyle, recording 3:13.61. Pyciak-Peciak’s victory was considered a major upset but he won the World Championship in 1977.

The 1971 World Champion was Boris Onishchenko who also placed third at the Worlds in 1973 and 1974. Considered a contender, something odd was noticed while he was competing in fencing. Even when he did not seem close to a touch, one was registered by the automatic equipment. After his épée was inspected it was found to be rigged so that he could trigger a touch even without making one. Onishchenko was disqualified and banned for life from the sport, which also caused his team to be disqualified. The world media gave him one of the most apt nicknames ever – Boris Dis-onishchenko. The Eastern European press noted that “Onischenko was disqualified for using a weapon not according to the regulations.”

PosCompetitor(s)NOCPoints
1Janusz Pyciak-PeciakPOL5,520Gold
2Pavel LednyovURS5,485Silver
3Jan BártůTCH5,466Bronze
4Daniele MasalaITA5,433
5Adrian ParkerGBR5,298
6John FitzgeraldUSA5,286
7Jørn SteffensenDEN5,281
8Boris MosolovURS5,200
9Tamás KancsalHUN5,195
10Danny NightingaleGBR5,187
11Risto HurmeFIN5,158
12Alain CortesFRA5,133
13Tibor MaracskóHUN5,126
14Walter EsserFRG5,094
15Jim FoxGBR5,074
16Mike BurleyUSA5,059
17Bohumil StarnovskýTCH5,056
18Szvetiszláv SasicsHUN5,051
19Zbigniew PaceltPOL5,028
20Hans LagerSWE5,015
21Stoyan ZlatevBUL5,008
22Velko BratanovBUL4,999
23Jussi PelliFIN4,932
24Bengt LagerSWE4,930
25Pierpaolo CristoforiITA4,927
26Bob NiemanUSA4,901
27Klaus PetersenDEN4,878
28Claude GuiguetFRA4,859
29Jiří AdamTCH4,858
30Gerhard WernerFRG4,857
31Shoji UchidaJPN4,850
32Gunnar JacobsonSWE4,843
33Michel GuéguenFRA4,825
34Krzysztof TrybusiewiczPOL4,823
35Heikki HulkkonenFIN4,809
36Nikolay NikolovBUL4,724
37Akira KuboJPN4,700
38Serge BindySUI4,663
39Mario MeddaITA4,647
40Hiroyuki KawazoeJPN4,591
41Wolfgang KöpckeFRG4,551
42Peter RidgwayAUS4,550
43John HawesCAN4,534
44Peter MackenAUS4,352
45George SkeneCAN4,172
46Jack AlexanderCAN4,123
DQBoris OnishchenkoURS