The women's pentathlon was contested in the Olympics from 1964 until 1980, and it was replaced in the 1984 games with the heptathlon. It had a different set of events than the ancient pentathlon and the modern pentathlon. The events were shot put, high jump, a hurdling race, sprint, and long jump.

The modern pentathlon added a women's event in 2000 Olympics, with the same set of events as the men's.