Despite its name, the modern pentathlon is one of the traditional Olympic Games. He has been part of the Olympic program since 1912; His idea of combining five games from the military game came from Baron de Coubertin, the founder of modern games.
In the past, the future of competition has been frequently discussed. In order to adapt the pentathlon to today’s times, the rules have been changed several times to make it more suitable for television. Only the third Pentathlon competitive ride was forgotten.
A real play about the leading German Annika Schlew took place in the riding subject of the women’s competition, which should reopen the discussion of the rider’s sub-discipline.
The 31-year-old Berliner was clear on the gold track after fencing and swimming, the ultimate combination of her strength, running and shooting, known as the laser run, which ended the Pentathlon for many years and actually shortened the Pentathlon to a four-way fight, which she clearly liked. But then there was the ride.
In modern pentathlon, athletes are drawn to horses, which over the years have led to sometimes strange, sometimes frightening scenes.
Horses are obviously overweight or disagree with the rider, refusing to jump or ride the barrier. Aside from the fact that it often turns the rankings completely upside down, these are scenes that make the pentathlon speak.
Passed to the final stage
Like this time with Annika Shley. The leader was assigned a horse called the “Saint Boy”, which was a horse that had previously refused to serve under the Russian Pentathlete and clearly saw everyone upset about the competition.
Usually in such cases it is possible to use a replacement horse – but only if the horse has already seriously refused or already thrown the rider twice as per the rules.
“Saint Boy” did not do this, but simply showed that he did not like himself completely or certainly could not walk.
There were tears in Shloo’s eyes before the actual trip because she couldn’t hold a grip on “Saint Boy”. This continued in the course, the horse was completely deflected, but the rider did not give up, and only after four denials was she disqualified, Shloo, crying uncontrollably in the saddle, coming from first to 31st and going to the final.
“She really had to ride somehow, with five drops if you want, she’s still ahead, she’s just as good,” commented national coach Kim Risner, who struggled with tears at both Olympics. Sequence. “
In 2016 in Rio, in 2008 Beijing Olympic champion Lena Schonborn met the same fate. She also had to say goodbye to the Olympic gold medal as her horse pulled away.
Shoniborn was sitting on the stand in Tokyo when she too was silent before commenting in front of the TV camera. “One by one, the situation I saw in Rio,” she shook her head. “This is a very bad case.” Risner advised Shley before riding: “Hit, hit it right.” Shloo then hit the horse to the side and used the whip, but it did not improve anything.
A pain to look at, but at least a pain for the horse. In the other four fields, it is the uniqueness of the athletes, the ability to combine different sports skills, but the ride, which must set up a unit with a horse within 20 minutes of entry time, is not only arbitrary on the edge.
It does not do justice to the game, and above all it does not do justice to the horses, and could not prove it more clearly than Schleiss’s appearance. If there’s anything wrong with this modern pentathlon, it’s this equestrian competition. Olympic dressage champion Isabel Werth released a clear statement on Friday: “Pentathlon has nothing to do with riding. Horses are a means of transportation that has nothing to do with athletes. You can easily give them a bike or scooter. “
The German Olympic Association responded in the afternoon with a statement and took a stand: “The many approved excesses requests on horse riding combinations to change the rules of the International Union must be urgent. It must be redesigned to protect the horse and ride.”
This is not the first time that equestrian sports have generated negative headlines at Tokyo Games. At the event, Swiss Robin Codell’s horse fell asleep after being injured in a cross country ride.
At the Games in Paris in 2024, they want to replace the modern pentathlon again. Then there should be a little match within 90 minutes. The ride takes place fast.
