On November 4, the international federation of modern pentathlon decided to remove horse jumping from the 5 traditional disciplines of the sport.
During the Tokyo Olympics last summer, a German athlete and her coach poorly treated a horse.
But the federation’s vice president claims the change is unrelated to what happened during the 2020 Olympics. According to Joel Bouzou, a modification has been considered since 2018 because horse jumping was an obstacle in the sport’s development because of the discipline’s costs.
Pierre de Coubertin created the modern pentathlon, inspired by a Greek competition, and was meant to represent the most complete athlete. Introduced in the Stockholm 1912 Olympics, modern pentathlon included and equestrian show jumping, freestyle swimming, a cross country running combined with a pistol shooting which is now a laser run.
Several hundred current and former athletes rejected the change. According to insidethegames.biz, 667 of them jointly sent a “vote of no confidence in the President and complete Executive Board” and called for their resignation.
The change will be implemented for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The federation opened a consultation for the replacement of the discipline, which is not going to be cycling, once considered as a preferred choice.
