Horses make final bow in Modern Pentathlon
by Philip Barker at Versailles
Egypt’s Ahmed ElGendy and Hungarian Michelle Gulyás won modern pentathlon gold at Versailles in competitions which signalled the end of an era for the sport.
Since its introduction at Stockholm 1912, it had always included a riding phase, but this will be replaced by obstacle racing at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
It is a change many consider highly controversial.
Competitions in Versailles had already been condensed into a 90-minute format in which each event followed in quick succession.
ElGendy had performed well in the preliminary phases of the men’s competition and on the final day, he entered the run/shoot with an advantage of 17 seconds. He became the first gold medallist from the continent of Africa.
The women’s competition was the last to be decided at Versailles.
There had been a dramatic development when Tokyo gold medallist Kate French withdrew from the final day of competition due to illness.
The crowd had been delighted when Elodie Clouvel of France built up a huge advantage as she set off on the run/shoot, but after she missed several targets, her advantage disappeared and Gulyás swept through to take gold.
That she was Hungarian was somehow very appropriate for it had been at the 1911 International Olympic Committee (IOC) session held in Budapest that Baron Pierre de Coubertin had finally gained approval for the introduction of modern pentathlon.
“My proposal had always been greeted with a lack of understanding hostility, this time however the grace of the holy sporting ghost enlightened my colleagues and they accepted an event to which I attached great importance,” Coubertin wrote.
He described the competition as “the veritable consecration of the complete athlete.”
He set out that it was to comprise a footrace, a horse race, swimming, fencing and a shooting contest, which Coubertin admitted “I would have preferred to have had it replaced by a rowing race but this would have added to difficulties of organisation.”
The first competition was only open to men.
32 lined up for an event which Coubertin described as “an extremely difficult effort.”
Gösta Lilliehöök, a Swedish career soldier, took gold; the host nation enjoyed a clean sweep of the medals.
Later Coubertin wrote of refinements needed to the format.
It remained an Olympic sport throughout the 20th century with a team event accompanying the individual competition. The team event was eventually abolished as a women’s individual event was introduced for Sydney 2000.
In the early part of the 21st century, each Olympic sport came under scrutiny as changes to the programme were contemplated.
The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) had emphasised the sport’s connections with Coubertin as an essential part of its heritage. It made a number of modifications to the format.
Then at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (conducted in 2021), there was an incident when German coach Kim Raisner was seen to hit Saint Boy the horse drawn by Annika Schleu after it had refused to jump. Schleu had been leading the competition before the round but dropped down the standings effectively ending her chance of a medal.
The horses ridden in modern pentathlon are drawn by lot and Saint Boy had also refused to jump when ridden by Gulnaz Gubaydullina of the Russian Olympic Committee.
Raisner was given a ‘black card’ and suspended from the remainder of the competition, but the incident generated negative headlines around the world.
It thrust the sport into the spotlight in a manner not seen since the 1976 Montreal Olympics, when Soviet competitor Boris Onishenko was discovered to have used an illegally modified foil which enabled him to register a ”hit’ when none was made. The deception was discovered by Britain’s Jim Fox.
After the incident in Tokyo, UIPM President Klaus Schormann announced: ”We are analysing all our competitions also we have briefed the sport department of the IOC.”
In December 2021, a working group to find a new element to replace riding was established.
In May 2022 it was announced that obstacle racing would replace riding starting at the 2028 Olympics.
“Obstacles instead of riding was a great motivation in all our member federations and stakeholders,” claimed Schormann before the 2024 Games.
“The Union started many years ago to act very strongly in the innovation commission: what we have to change, how we have to go for the future, the interests of young people. So it’s not just based on Tokyo,” he insisted.
The UIPM also published the text of an “interview” with Coubertin which suggested he would have approved of the switch to obstacle racing.
This was written by the American novelist George Hirthler who authored a fictional book based on fact about Pierre de Coubertin.
The change to obstacle racing had been met with opposition by many leading personalities in the sport including previous Olympic medallists.
In the early years, there was no formal governing body for modern pentathlon but at Amsterdam in 1928, it was agreed to form a Modern Pentathlon Committee under the auspices of the IOC with Comte Henry Baillet-Latour presiding.
This included representatives from the constituent sports of athletics, swimming, shooting equestrianism and fencing.
A formal international federation was established after the second world war. In the early years it was also responsible for biathlon before the two sports eventually separated.
The sport had originally been held over five days and was eventually telescoped first to one day and then to 90 minutes.
After Beijing 2008, the shooting and run phases were combined, initially using traditional pistols. This was subsequently replaced by a Laser-Run.
Coubertin himself had wished to have the competition with “events following each other in quick succession.”
He was a keen horseman and also prescribed that “horses, provided by the organising country and drawn for by lots at the last moment, this is what I thought would give the whole a first-rate character.”
It is perhaps the ultimate twist that this regulation may have contributed to the incident which proved the catalyst for the end of horses in the sport.
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