The International Modern Pentathlon Federation has decided to abolish horse riding after the 2024 Olympics.
A "shock" for a lot of athletes.
It now remains to find the discipline that will replace horse riding.
His name comes back faster than that of Charles de Gaulle during a debate at Les Républicains.
At the moment, in the modern pentathlon, the spirit of Pierre de Coubertin, founder of this wonderful sport, is everywhere.
The reason: the elimination of horse riding, after 2024, from the program of the Olympic discipline.
A decision endorsed at the Congress of the International Federation (IUPM) last weekend.
All because of Saint-Boy.
Who ?
But yes, Saint-Boy, this beautiful gray gelding, ridden by the German Annika Schleu who refused to jump any obstacle at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, while the rider aspired to the gold medal.
"It's a reflection that has taken shape over the past five years, with the creation of an innovation commission in 2016," says Joël Bouzou, president of the French Federation and vice-president of the IUPM.
What happened in Tokyo is not the trigger.
"
"We had to change the test"
So what could have prompted this decision?
“We have never solved the problem of access, of the fairness of the event, in relation to the drawing of lots for horses,” Bouzou continues.
And then there is the question of the cost of practice.
"" We can change the rules of riding as we want, we will never get into the nails of the International Olympic Committee, adds Valentin Belaud, 11th in Tokyo, whose opinion is shared by Elodie Clouvel, 6th in Japan.
So, we had to change events.
"
Annika Schleu will not be suspended for her behavior towards Saint Boy via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/xRzS0zB5In
- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) September 6, 2021
We tried to reach Annika Schleu, but the poor still had to curse on ten generations Saint Boy, and everything that relates directly or indirectly to a horse.
In the small world of modern pentathlon, this decision of the IUPM was all the same a "shock", assures Valentin Prades, 7th in Tokyo, "because it is something historic, that it was one of the qualities that Baron Pierre de Coubertin [again] wanted ”.
Especially since the manner of announcing it did not help anything.
Federations are complaining
"The International Federation remained silent between the end of the Olympics and the beginning of November," says Benny Elmann-Larsen, President of the Danish Federation. We were made aware a little before the press release by leaks from the
Guardian
. It was the first that we heard about the elimination of horse riding. They pass their decision by Force Majeure (a kind of 49.3 of the modern pentathlon). "
The Dane is rag.
Especially since he considers, with his Swedish and Finnish colleagues, who sent two letters to the IUPM that
20 Minutes
was able to consult, that the Congress took place in a “grotesque” way: “no debate possible”, “ an invalid voting system "," votes coming from countries not recognized to inflate the majority ", and small problems of regulation in addition ...
Scathing reply from Joël Bouzou, who refutes the accusations and sees behind it a way to bounce back on the abolition of horse riding:
“These Federations are the first to challenge, but they organize very few international competitions and very few with horse riding.
For years and years, there has not been a World Cup in this kind of country.
And when you see the mass of athletes, some have so few that they better shut up.
“Not very values Pierre de Coubertin, all that.
Letters from athletes to the IUPM
The athletes have also expressed their reluctance.
A letter sent by the Olympic medalists called for the resignation of the President of the IUPM, Klaus Schormann, because of the way in which the decision was taken, without consulting sportsmen and women.
A second letter was also sent to the IUPM to demand the cancellation of the abolition of horse riding.
"I only signed the first letter, because the second did not add value and the decision had been taken," says Belaud.
And then, the way was not ideal, it was via the WhatsApp chat, and on a group of 800 athletes, there are necessarily lags.
Elodie [Clouvel] is on it even though she was not a signatory.
There are also athletes who preferred not to say anything, for fear of possible consequences on their careers.
"
What discipline to succeed horse riding?
Our three French pentathletes finally understood the decision to change discipline. “Horse riding is a brake on the development of our sport,” continues Belaud. Me, I want our sport to grow. The most important thing is that the pentathlon remains Olympic. If tomorrow it is not, I will stop. So, before retiring without having completed all of their terms, all these beautiful people are looking for THE solution to replace horse riding. The final choice will be approved at the IUPM Congress next year. Small list of possibilities.
The bike ? "It won't be that", argues Schormann. Pack, it's weighed. Climbing, with increasing difficulty? "We are not climbers," maintains Valentin Prades. It would radically change the physique of the athletes. Under the conditions set by the IUPM, it is already an Olympic sport. We would be directly compared to pure climbers, and that would not be to our benefit. »The drone race (yes, yes, you read that correctly)? “Today, it seems completely crazy to us, but that would make sense in 2050,” notes Valentin Belaud.
Another possibility, cross-country skiing: "It would allow us to be the only sport at the Summer Games and at the Winter Games," Belaud develops.
Knowing that at the base, we were attached to the international biathlon federation, so we would reconnect with history.
"Or an obstacle course, mixing steeplechase and Mud Day: an idea from Valentin Prades, who submitted it to the heiress of Pierre de Coubertin (we come back to this) on Monday and who will propose it to the IUPM .
“We would replace the crossing of obstacles by a horse, by the crossing by a human.
I think that this is in line with what the baron wanted, we do not change the DNA of the athletes and, above all, it responds to all the requests notified by the IUPM.
"
Horse riding again in Paris
Yes, because the International Federation has made its little list of criteria. Fourteen in total, so that it fits well with the requests of the IOC: "The choice we will make corresponds to what we want to see in the complete athlete, perfect in terms of his intellectual, moral, mental, physical profile, details Joël Bouzou. There are not enough pentathletes, although they have everything they need to be super models in society. "
While waiting for the new mystery discipline for the 2028 Olympics, we still have to prepare for the 2024 Games, where horse riding will still be part of the game.
The format will be somewhat adapted, with fewer obstacles and fewer.
“In Paris, it will be the last Olympic champion of this formula, concludes Valentin Belaud.
It would be a great story to end the riding event in Paris, where I started with the Republican Guard.
»And pay homage, at the same time, to Pierre de Coubertin.
Obligatorily.
Sport
2021 Olympics: Annika Schleu will not be sanctioned for her behavior towards Saint Boy
Sport
2021 Olympics: After the Saint Boy affair, the modern pentathlon federation will change its riding test
Sport
horse riding
Olympic Games
Tokyo Olympics 2021
Paris 2024
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