Individual, Men

After winning the 2004 gold medal, Andrey Moiseyev (RUS) had been steady leading up to the Beijing Olympics. He was third at the 2005 World Championships, second at the 2006 European Championships, and earlier in 2008, won the European Championships. His best event was fencing and he tied for first, helping him to move into the lead after three phases. He continued to lead thru the riding and took a 52-point lead into the cross-country run, followed by China’s Qian Zhenhua, the 2005 World Champion and first Asian to win a medal at the World Championships, who had been the leader after two phases. Moiseyev placed only 27th in the run, but none of the top runners were anywhere near him and he held on to defend his gold medal. This made him only the second modern pentathlete to win two individual gold medals, after Lars Hall (SWE) in 1952-56. Qian could not maintain his medal position and placed fourth.

The 1996 Champion, Alex Parygin, attempted to represent Australia at these Olympics, as he had in 2004. His participation was prevented by the British pentathlon federation, which appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), stating he had never met the required number of points to compete in Beijing.