Saint Boy (25): the horse whose refusal brought down the modern pentathlon (Tokyo, 06/08/2021)
Pierre de Coubertin would rotate in his grave. The modern pentathlon, created by the inventor of the modern Olympic Games himself, should in future do without the final show jumping. The baron once invented a sporting art product with the hodgepodge of pistol shooting, épée fencing, swimming, horseback riding and cross-country running, a combination of sports with the most diverse movement sequences and difficulties.
At least since a horse named Saint Boy refused his services at the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo and was beaten with a whip by Annika Schleu, who had been in the lead up to that point, the five-man combination, which in 1912 – still with a cross-country ride without show jumping as an equestrian discipline – has changed. experienced its Olympic premiere, could no longer be freed from the accusation of animal cruelty. Therefore, after the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, equestrian sports should no longer be part of the pentathlon. In addition, it is by no means guaranteed that its reformed version will still be part of the program in Los Angeles in 2028.
The Olympic future of modern pentathlon will depend on the performance of the new element that is set to replace show jumping. For the first time it will be on 27./28. June underwent a first international test at a competition in Ankara immediately after the World Cup finals in the Turkish capital. According to the will of the world association UIPM around its President Klaus Schormann, the sport is to be saved by an obstacle course, which from now on two-legged instead of four-legged people have to master in the competition. Over a distance of 100 meters, the athletes should each master ten different obstacles, i.e. running over increasing steps, swinging around on a rope like Tarzan, overcoming a 1.5 meter high wall, balancing on a kind of balance beam, climbing ladders and finally climb a curved wall that serves as the finish line.
crates and boxes
The test version is reminiscent of good old circuit training, including boxes and boxes, gymnastics equipment and climbing bars of all kinds. Such associations are obvious, after all the trained sports teacher Klaus Schormann, who will be 76 in July, is the originator and biggest fan of the new discipline. The national association DVMF and men’s national coach Andrii Iefremenko have not yet wanted to comment on whether the innovation turns out to be sheer nonsense or modern entertainment. “Honestly, we are not yet preparing any active competitive athletes for this test competition,” said DVMF board member Robin Schmidt jW-Request with.
60 suggestions
Instead of preparing current squad athletes for the new 100-meter obstacle course in a rush and having them start in Ankara, the German side is to send former athletes and ambitious amateur athletes as testers. In any case, the best in their field will stay away from the premiere and prefer to prepare in the current format for the World Championships from July 24th to 31st in Alexandria/Egypt. At least it seems to be progress in the scene that the world association finally informed publicly and in detail about the upcoming innovation last month. »We are happy that the structure of the competition has been clarified and we are open to the new challenges. How the new type of sport can be integrated into the existing training structures is also under discussion,« says Robin Schmidt on the result of the UIPM working group »New Fifth Discipline«.
In total, the committee is said to have had around 60 suggestions on the table. But unlike an earlier reform, when shooting was switched from pistols to laser weapons and combined with running on a lap that was clear for spectators, Schormann and his all-around disciples don’t seem to have hit the right nerve this time. The athletes quickly complained about what they should train in the near future and that they were hardly heard during the selection process. The “Pentathlon United” association, for example, clearly criticized the solo effort of the UIPM grandee. »We have long suspected that the steeplechase was high on the agenda. The decision to only test the steeplechase and none of the other options underscores this,” the athletes’ representatives said, calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to act. There are still two years left for various tests without horses, the new format must be found after the 2024 Summer Games.
