MADRID, 4 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) has opened this Thursday a consultation process among its federation with the aim of replacing horse riding in its program and replacing it with another sport for the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
This move comes after the UIPM Executive Board unanimously approved a series of recommendations drawn up by the UIPM Innovation Commission after a two-day meeting in Monaco last week.
The Innovation Commission – created in 2018 to continuously monitor the composition of the modern pentathlon and review its suitability for the Olympic Games – specified the recommendation that horsemanship be replaced by another discipline that enhances the popularity and credibility of the modern pentathlon.
This measure comes after the treatment that some horses received during the last Tokyo Games. “While preserving its status as the ultimate physical and mental sporting challenge, as envisioned by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Modern Olympic Games,” adds the UIPM.
The decision of the Executive Board was communicated to the global community of UIPM National Federations and members of the UIPM Riders, Coaches and Technical Committees on Thursday during a series of conference calls.
All changes resulting from the consultation process will be implemented in time for the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics, which will only go into effect after Paris 2024, which will be the first Games to feature the sport’s new elimination format for television. , which allows the public to see the five disciplines in 90 minutes in a pentathlon stadium.
The consultation process will include specific stakeholder groups, as well as marketing and media partners, and the selection of a new discipline will be based on the following criteria. In this way, the pentathlon seeks a fifth sport that joins swimming, fencing, shooting and athletics.
“Many times in recent decades our sport has evolved to meet the changing expectations of the modern world. This evolution has created more appeal for young athletes and families, more value for viewers and television audiences, reduced environmental impact and 100% gender equality since the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics, “said Klaus Schormann, UIPM President.
“The modern pentathlon will continue to be a sport of five disciplines and will continue to provide the definitive moral and physical examination of an athlete, as envisioned by Coubertin,” added the head of the federation for the modern pentathlon.