California Dreaming! Modern pentathlon gets the green light for LA28

Modern pentathlon is back in the Olympic Summer Games, even if it technically never went away.

During the 141st Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in India, five new sports were added to the LA28 Olympic Program. Modern pentathlon, along with weightlifting, was also confirmed for LA28 after initially being left off.

The sport has been featured in every Summer Games since its introduction in Stockholm 1912, but their Olympic future looked murky after Tokyo 2020.

An incident involving a German coach punching a horse brought an unwanted spotlight to the sport, and calls for the equestrian portion to be replaced with something more inclusive and economically feasible grew louder and louder. Although the sport was guaranteed to be a part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, nothing beyond that was certain.

The International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) moved quickly to replace equestrian with obstacle, a move that has generated many favorable reviews.

“Two years ago, our Union was challenged like never before,” said UIPM President Dr. Klaus Schormann. “Many times in the past three decades we had made dramatic changes to the sport, but this time it was necessary to execute a higher level of transformation.”

IOC President Thomas Bach made it clear many times since Tokyo 2020 the sport had no Olympic future past Paris if it did not change, and reiterated that sentiment in India.

“Without this change, modern pentathlon would not have been included in the program,” he said at the Session.

Although the Paris 2024 version of modern pentathlon will feature equestrian, the UIPM is all smiles as they embark on this new chapter of their Olympic history.

“We are entering a new era with the potential to become one of the most exciting, accessible and popular sports in the Olympic Movement.”