A revolution is coming in modern pentathlon, which many athletes have long opposed.
On June 27-28, the first test competitions in a new discipline were held in Ankara, which will soon replace show jumping, which was excluded from the program.
It will be an obstacle course.
As UIPM President Klaus Schormann pointed out, this is not just a substitution of one discipline for another.
The innovation will turn the pentathlon into a multisport that will be of interest to television and will become popular with young fans and advertising partners around the world.
As part of the trial tournament, nine elements were installed on the track: a rope swing, an A-frame, balancers, rings, wheels, a mallet, over-under-through, an obstacle and a tsunami wall.
More than 100 athletes from 19 countries of the world took part in the competition.
Athletes were divided into six categories: four of them were pentathletes, and two more were athletes specializing in obstacle races.
The 2019 world champion in steeplechase racing, Frenchman Dimitri Uhl, was the fastest at 27.42 seconds.
Among the pentathletes, the best time was shown by the German Tobias Hirl - 34 seconds.
“The course turned out to be dynamic and difficult, it allowed to test the inherent versatility and skills of the pentathletes.
Athletes really enjoyed the competition.
It was a great first step towards making our sport youthful, urban and easily accessible in the future,” Schormann commented on the competition.
Test tournaments will continue to be held, and at the end of the year, the congress of the international federation will determine in what format modern pentathlon will be presented to the IOC for participation in the 2028 Olympic Games.
As you know, world officials thought about the exclusion of this sport from the Olympic program after the scandal that unfolded at the Tokyo Games.
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© UIPM World Pentathlon / Augustas Didžgalvis
Then the horse of the leader of the competition, pentathlete from Germany Annika Schloy, stopped obeying and refused to overcome obstacles.
The video caught the moment when a German woman punishes an animal for disobedience, and her trainer, Kim Reisner, beats a horse with his fist.
The incident caused a strong reaction in the sports community, as well as animal rights activists.
The coach was suspended from the competition, and Annika was accused of cruelty to horses.
After that, UIPM decided to remove horseback riding from the program.
According to Inside the Games, more than 650 athletes from around the world opposed this initiative, but the leadership of the international union did not listen to them.
Show jumping was eliminated, and cycling, boxing, and even rock climbing were suggested among the possible replacements, but in the end they settled on an obstacle course.
At the same time, as the head coach of the Russian national team Andrey Moiseev explained, it is still absolutely unclear what the new discipline will look like at the end of all test competitions.
The UIPM Technical Committee will have to determine the exact list of elements of the course, as well as the number of points and the amount of penalties.
In addition, it is not yet completely clear whether the new event will be included in the competition as a separate discipline or added to the “combine” that now combines running and shooting.
“I think that in about six months there will be a more or less clear picture, when several competitions are held and it becomes clear how many points the athletes will earn in this discipline.
This is a very important point - what will be the value of the obstacle course.
Now, for example, we know for sure that fencing is a valuable type of pentathlon that brings a lot of points.
But whether the obstacle course will seriously affect the balance of power or whether it will be a secondary view that will not give a big margin - no one knows yet, ”Moiseev explained in an interview with RT.
The specialist noted that in Ankara many athletes got acquainted with the facilities for the first time, so it is too early to discuss something in detail.
“I was not present at the testing, so I can only draw conclusions from a few available videos.
Judging by them, the strip is quite simple, at least I did not see anything traumatic in it.
We can say that athletes of average height will have an advantage on it - they are faster, more compact and physically stronger.
But tall guys can feel uncomfortable on it, ”said the two-time Olympic champion.
He did not evaluate the very fact of replacing show jumping with an obstacle course, but only noted that this should be taken for granted.
“It is not yet clear how this will all look, but it is absolutely certain that we will have a new discipline that we need to adapt to.
In theory, the time for passing the distance will be reduced on the obstacle course (
compared to show jumping.
- RT ) and entertainment will increase.
How it turns out in practice - we will see later, ”concluded Moiseev.
But the Olympic champion of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro Alexander Lesun spoke quite categorically against the innovation.
According to him, it contradicts the philosophy of modern pentathlon as a sport.
“Firstly, we have our own culture and huge quality traditions.
Secondly, our sport has already changed very much over the past 30 years, but at the same time it still remained in, so to speak, a permissible form.
But what is being launched now is a completely new sport, moreover, it limits people in terms of anthropometry.
In addition, this new fifth type, it seems to me, will be very traumatic for pentathletes, ”Match TV quotes the athlete.
According to Lesun, such an update is just an attempt to “like” the International Olympic Committee in order to remain in the Olympics program in 2028.
“But the IOC has not given specific instructions on how exactly the pentathlon needs to be changed so that it remains.
And this innovation does not give any guarantees at all, ”the ex-world champion emphasized.
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© UIPM World Pentathlon / Augustas Didžgalvis