Modern pentathlon contained five events; pistol shooting, épéefencing, freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a cross-country run. The first three events were scored on a points system. Those points were then converted into a time handicap for the final combined event, with the points leader starting first and each other competitor having a delayed start based on how many points behind the leader they were. This results in the finish order of the run being the final ranking for the event. Similar to the previous Games, the fencing event consisted of two rounds: the traditional round-robin stage plus a "bonus round." In the round-robin, each competitor faced every other competitor in a one-touch bout. The competitors were ranked according to how many victories they earn. The bonus round was held on one piste in a ladder, knock-out system. The two lowest-ranked competitors from the round-robin faced each other in another one-touch bout; the winner was credited with the additional victory and advanced to face the next-lowest ranked competitor. This continued, up the ranking ladder, until all competitors had competed in the bonus round. The swimming portion consisted of a 200-metre freestyle race, with score based on time. The show jumping competition involved riding an unfamiliar horse over a course with 12 obstacles. The score was based on penalties for fallen bars, refusals, falls, and being over the time limit. The combined running and pistol shooting events remain unchanged from the new combined format since 2012; athletes face four rounds of shooting each followed by an run. In each of the four rounds of firing, they must shoot five targets, loading the gun after every shot, and then being permitted to resume their running. Misses are not explicitly penalized, but practically result in the competitor taking longer to score five hits. After 70 seconds, even if the competitor has not scored five hits, they move on to the next leg of the run.
Qualification
Thirty-six athletes are eligible to qualify for each of the two events; a maximum of two per gender from any nation. Qualification methods are the same for both the men's and women's events. The host nation Japan has been guaranteed a single place each in the men's and women's events, while two invitational places will be allocated by UIPM once the rest of the qualifiers were decided. Between February and August 2019, the initial distribution of quotas to the athletes has taken place based on the competition results. Five continental championships afforded twenty places each per gender: one each from Africa and Oceania, five from Asia, eight from Europe, and five from the Americas with a maximum of one quota per NOC. Qualified athletes will also be the winner of the 2019 UIPM World Cup final and the top three finishers at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, held from September 3 to 9, 2019. The top three ranked athletes, not qualified by any means, will be awarded a place at the 2020 UIPM World Championships in Xiamen, China, while the remaining seven were based on the pentathlon's world rankings as of June 1, 2020.
