Pentathlon, Men
| Date | 7 July 1924 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Stade Olympique de Colombes, Colombes | |
| Participants | 30 from 17 countries | |
| Format | All compete in the first three events. The top 12 then advanced to the fourth event, the discus throw. The top six after that event then advanced to the final event, the 1,500 metres. | |
Eero Lehtonen defended his gold medal in this event, although he entered the final event, 1,500 metres, only one place ahead of Hungary’s Elemér Somfay. Lehtonen won the 1,500, Somfay second, to secure his gold medal. All his life Somfay believed that he had won the pentathlon in 1924. This was due to the fact that he believed he ran the 200 m in 22.8 seconds, which would have been enough to win. He protested with a written confirmation from one of the timekeepers, but the president of the Hungarian NOC was not interested in investigating the matter, and the protest was denied. According to his last will “Elemér Somfay Olympic Champion” was carved on his tomb. In the long jump section of the event, Bob LeGendre jumped 7.765 (25-5¼) for a world record. Had the event been scored by points tables, LeGendre would have won, but he placed only ninth in the javelin, which pushed him back to third place.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Points | Points (1912B Tables) | Points (1985 Tables) | Long Jump | Discus Throw | 200 metres | Javelin Throw | 1,500 metres | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Eero Lehtonen |  FIN | 14 | 3789.615 | 3414 | 6.680 | 50.93 | 23.0 | 40.44 | 4:47.1 | Gold | ||
| 2 | – | Elemér Somfay |  HUN | 16 | 3683.375 | 3352 | 6.770 | 52.07 | 23.4 | 37.76 | 4:48.4 | Silver | ||
| 3 | – | Bob LeGendre |  USA | 18 | 3803.125 | 3525 | 7.765 | 48.04 | 23.0 | 36.76 | 4:52.6 | Bronze | ||
| 4 | – | Leo Leino | FIN | 23 | 3553.180 | 3265 | 6.720 | 54.12 | 23.2 | 33.62 | 4:55.4 | |||
| 5 | – | Mort Kaer | USA | 24 | 3235.020 | 3035 | 6.960 | 50.20 | 23.0 | 32.70 | 5:38.6 | |||
| 6 | – | Hugo Lahtinen | FIN | 27 | 3488.185 | 3234 | 6.895 | 48.66 | 23.6 | 36.08 | 4:55.6 | |||
| 7 | – | Brutus Hamilton | USA | 24 | – | – | 6.830 | 48.96 | 24.4 | 37.70 | – | |||
| 8 | – | Göran Unger |  SWE | 30 | – | – | 6.550 | 48.45 | 23.8 | 35.11 | – | |||
| 9 | – | Evert Nilsson | SWE | 35 | – | – | 6.400 | 51.17 | 25.0 | 33.45 | – | |||
| 10 | – | Dennis Duigan |  AUS | 39 | 2310.925 | 2569 | 6.545 | 45.60 | 23.8 | 27.26 | – | |||
| 11 | – | Martin Mølster |  NOR | 39 | 2522.265 | 2399 | 6.200 | 47.91 | 24.2 | 34.69 | – | |||
| 12 | – | Clifford Argue | USA | 36 | – | – | 6.460 | 41.84 | 23.4 | – | – | |||
| 13 | – | Donald Slack |  GBR | 48 | – | – | 6.430 | 34.18 | 23.8 | – | – | |||
| 14 | – | Léon Courtejaire |  FRA | 49 | 1885.000 | 1823 | 6.290 | 47.58 | 24.6 | – | – | |||
| 15 | – | Adolfo Contoli |  ITA | 49 | 1789.900 | 1758 | 5.990 | 42.98 | 23.8 | – | – | |||
| 16 | – | Roger Viel | FRA | 52 | 1756.850 | 1738 | 5.920 | 42.58 | 23.8 | – | – | |||
| 17 | – | Gaston Médécin |  MON | 52 | 1592.375 | 1701 | 6.490 | 32.43 | 24.0 | – | – | |||
| 18 | – | Harry de Keijser |  NED | 52 | 1813.975 | 1783 | 6.190 | 44.07 | 24.2 | – | – | |||
| 19 | – | Josse Ruth |  BEL | 55 | – | – | 6.380 | 36.78 | 24.2 | – | – | |||
| 20 | – | Albino Pighi | ITA | 61 | – | – | 6.260 | 39.82 | 25.0 | – | – | |||
| 21 | – | Seiichi Ueda |  JPN | 62 | – | – | 6.050 | 47.47 | 25.4 | – | – | |||
| 22 | – | Constant Bucher |  SUI | 63 | 1643.275 | 1688 | 6.170 | 38.95 | 24.4 | – | – | |||
| 23 | – | Bertil Fastén | SWE | 63 | 1663.950 | 1656 | 5.980 | 47.58 | 25.8 | – | – | |||
| 24 | – | Aleksa Spahić |  YUG | 66 | 1386.400 | 1556 | 6.320 | 31.00 | 25.0 | – | – | |||
| 25 | – | Antonín Svoboda |  TCH | 66 | 1467.850 | 1538 | 5.370 | 37.88 | 24.0 | – | – | |||
| 26 | – | Fred Zinner | BEL | 72 | – | – | 5.880 | 40.45 | 25.2 | – | – | |||
| 27 | – | Percy Spark | GBR | 79 | – | – | 5.290 | 41.19 | 27.0 | – | – | |||
| 28 | – | Stelios Benardis |  GRE | 83 | – | – | 5.345 | 35.58 | 26.2 | – | – | |||
| – | Iivari Yrjölä | FIN | – | – | – | 6.250 | 51.72 | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Georgios Zacharopoulos | GRE | – | – | – | 5.485 | 49.00 | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Josef Polese |  AUT | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Alexander Weilheim | AUT | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Hans Volckmar | AUT | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Oli Gulli | NOR | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Dimitrios Karampatis | GRE | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Sylvio Cator |  HAI | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Carlo Butti | ITA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Giuseppe Palmieri | ITA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | František Fuhrherr-Nový | TCH | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| – | Jiří Svoboda | TCH | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |