Individual, Men

With the Soviets leading a boycott, many of the top modern pentathletes were absent from Los Angeles. The favorite was 1982 World Champion Daniele Masala, followed by France’s Joël Bouzou, who was third that year behind Masala and 1980 gold medalist Anatoly Starostin. Sweden’s Svante Rasmuson took the lead after the fencing, followed by Masala. They maintained that position after the 300 freestyle swim, a specialty for Ramuson, who had competed as a swimmer (100 freestyle) at the 1976 Olympics. On the morning of the final day, Masala moved ahead of Ramuson after the shooting, taking a 26-point lead into the run. But Rasmuson was a better runner and with the new format, featuring a staggered start, it was thought Rasmuson might be able to catch the Italian. He did that, but only about 100 metres from the finish. However, the effort had exhausted him and he staggered on some soft dirt on the final straight and Masala was able to pass him to regain the lead and win the gold medal. This was Italy’s first Olympic medal in modern pentathlon.