Show jumping, dressage and eventing are all set for the 2028 Olympics, with equestrian just accepted as one of the core sports of those Games–along with skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing.
But not modern pentathlon. It has a possible pathway in 2023 to get a place for Los Angeles 2028, though its fate is tied to what happens with its show jumping component. Although the pentathlon association’s board decided to drop riding as one of its group of five sports, hundreds of athletes are protesting. They maintain riding is an integral part of the event. Yet the leadership just plowed ahead and said it would substitute something else; what that is has yet to be determined.
Pentathlon’s troubles prompted PETA and the like to say horses should not be part of the Olympics at all, even though there is no relationship between pentathlon and the traditional Olympic equestrian sports. Although it’s not always easy to make non-horse people understand that.
Pentathlon’s troubles with its equestrian element came in Tokyo, when the athlete who was leading in the women’s competition couldn’t deal with a horse that refused a fence. She burst into tears and her coach punched the horse, which set off a chain reaction that was a public relations nightmare and threatened pentathlon’s continued presence in the Games after Paris 2024. As we see. What would have made more sense for pentathlon was to lower the fences, find better horses and make sure they are ridden by only one athlete and not two in the same competition.
The fate of pentathlon is up in the air, but I’m betting equestrian will be part of the Games past 2028 and on to 2032 Brisbane. Australia, after all, is an equestrian-friendly country. While eventing often has been tabbed as the equestrian discipline that might be dropped from the Olympics first (the cost of building a cross-country course is a problem for those worried about the ever-soaring price of staging the Games) it won’t happen in Brisbane. Eventing is the sport at which Australians excel.
Oliver Townend of Great Britain’s gold medal team in Tokyo jumping through the water.
But look for even more non-traditional sports to make the Olypic program as years go by, which means other sports of long- standing may have to go to make room for them. Speaking about the sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said, “These sports will bring fresh excitement and relevance to the Olympic Games in America and connect the Olympics with younger fans across Los Angeles and around the world.”