All-around is a kind of discipline that combines several types of competitions within the same or different sports. Such events appreciate the versatility and versatility of the training of participants and may include completely different exercises. In other words, all-around is an embodiment of the idea to combine elements of different sports in one program.
The main features of all-around
The peculiarity of all-around as a sports competition is that the winner is determined not by one, but by the totality of the results obtained in different disciplines or exercises. The advantages of this approach include the universal nature of training, developing many physical skills, and not just one. This explains why all-around is present in the service structures (army, Ministry of Internal Affairs). Along with this, complex competitions have a number of disadvantages.
First, all-around is a combined sport, the rating system of which is quite difficult and in most cases is built on complex formulas. Spectators who are not familiar with the intricacies of refereeing, usually do not just follow the logic of identifying the winner, which greatly complicates the perception of complex competitions.
Another disadvantage of all-around is the limited training opportunities for participants in the competition. Typically, an athlete is able to master at a high level no more than two disciplines of the program, while in the rest he performs medium.
Varieties
Currently, there are 7 main types of all-around events:
- athletics;
- winter;
- sports and gymnastic;
- pentathlon;
- equestrian eventing;
- Omnium
- triathlon.
In addition to sporting all-around events, there are service ones that have names corresponding to the organization within which the competition is held.
A rather exotic kind of combined competition is the northern all-around. It includes 5 non-standard disciplines that are not related to Olympic sport (ax throwing, jumping over sledges, etc.). In other words, the program consists of the traditional disciplines of the small northern peoples.
Modern Pentathlon
Modern pentathlon is a very versatile version of all-round events, combining 5 disciplines that do not intersect with each other. The program includes:
- fencing;
- swimming;
- show jumping;
- shooting;
- run.
In the first three competitions, athletes gain points that determine the order of reaching the running distance, the passage of which is associated with shooting. The winner is the one who crosses the finish line first. The break between the competitions is 2 hours.
Fencing is carried out in a circular system with the duration of each battle until the first injection. Each battle won brings the athlete 24 points. The second stage of the program is swimming, where each participant freestyle overcomes a distance of 200 meters for a while. Points are awarded depending on the speed of the route.
After swimming, a show jumping competition is held. At this stage, participants are required to complete a 450-meter long route on horseback, overcoming obstacles 1.2 meters high along the way. Unlike pure show jumping, here athletes get animals by drawing lots, which greatly complicates the task.
The last stage of the pentathlon - running with shooting - is called a combine. The goal of the competition is to overcome the three-kilometer distance as quickly as possible, along which several shooting ranges are located. At each of these lines in front of the athlete appears 5 targets on which he must get from a laser weapon, after which he can continue the route. If no target is hit, then the participant must remain at the turn of the whole 70 seconds, which significantly delays his arrival at the finish line.
Triathlon
Triathlon includes three types of disciplines:
- swimming in open water;
- highway cycling;
- cross.
Unlike pentathlon, there is no temporary break between competitions, which greatly simplifies the viewing procedure for spectators, but is a real test of the endurance of athletes.
All three types of disciplines are included in one continuous distance. At first, the participants swim one and a half kilometers, then, changing their costume, they go 40 km of the bicycle race and at the end they run 10 km of cross-country race.
Equestrian eventing
Eventing is an example of all-round events held within the same sports direction. In this case, equestrian sport. Competitions include 3 disciplines: dressage, cross-country and show jumping, which includes two rounds.
Eventing takes place over three days and may include both individual and group offsets.
Omnium
Omnium is an individual cycling all-around event uniting 6 types of competitions, the break between which should be at least half an hour. The total time for such competitions at the Olympics is 2 days.
Athletics All-around
Track and field athletics is divided into two types: male and female. The first consists of 10 disciplines, and the second - 7. The competition includes running at different distances, throwing shells, shot put, jumping and overcoming the distance with barriers.
Gymnastics All-Around
All-around in sports gymnastics is a program in which participants perform exercises on all apparatuses. Within the competition, both individual and group classification is possible.
Artistic all-around is a group competition, which includes a certain set of different gymnastic exercises.