Many Olympic athletes have trained their entire lives for their sport and have honed a single skill set over the course of their lives.

If you multiply this experience by five, you get a modern pentathlete who competes in the disciplines of pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running in a 90-minute competition.

In the second year of her sporting career, the modern pentathlon drove Jessica Davis to master five sporting disciplines at the highest competitive level.

Davis rode horses as a child, inspired by her mother, a full-time rider, and her father and grandmother, who also rode. After high school, she made the track team at Central Connecticut State, where she holds the school’s indoor and outdoor records in the pole vault. After graduation, Davis wanted to pursue a career in sports, but knew she wouldn’t make it as a pole vaulter.

She started competing in triathlons, following in the footsteps of her father, who was a successful triathlete, and enjoyed the versatility that this three-sport competition required.

Then one day at a house party, she met Olympic fencer Suzie Paxton, who told Davis about “this crazy sport called modern pentathlon” and encouraged her to learn fencing. Less than a year after graduating from Central Connecticut State, she began competing in modern pentathlon.

“It’s funny. It was a slow, slow build until it wasn’t. … It was like every year I was getting a little better,” the now 32-year-old said. “Then all of a sudden I had it figured out … and it became a real possibility that I could actually make the Olympic team.”

After competing in six World Pentathlon Championships, she qualified for her first Olympic Games, achieving her biggest goal since the sport began.

Before competing in Paris, Davis reflects on how her college career prepared her for the Olympics.

“In the department I train in, I learned how to work hard and how to get involved. … I learned how to manage my time and how to be present. How to have a good day, even when you’re not having a good one.”

She added: “Pole vaulting is probably one of the most mentally demanding sports I’ve ever done. It’s really tough. And that’s why every sport I’ve done since then has been like a walk in the park.”

The Modern Pentathlon, which takes place from Thursday to Sunday at the Palace of Versailles, requires a wide range of athletic skills, mental discipline and fighting spirit.

“You really give 100 percent in five different sports… You have to be five different athletes every day,” Davis said.

“Our athletes are just some of the most incredible athletes. Many of them … have been at the top of these individual sports. So the fact that they can do five things at a level that some athletes can only do in one is amazing.”