By Manasi Pathak and Shrivathsa Sridhar
(Reuters) -Horse riding will be removed from modern pentathlon’s programme at the Olympics from Los Angeles 2028, the sport’s governing UIPM announced on Thursday, with a consultation process set to start soon to find a suitable replacement.
The decision comes after Germany’s modern pentathlon coach Kim Raisner hit Annika Schleu’s horse, Saint Boy, at the Tokyo Games nL8N2PE0AU when it refused to jump a fence. The incident led to widespread criticism of the sport.
“First, we know that this information will be surprising and even shocking to you,” the International Modern Pentathlon Union said in a statement.
“It is not very long since we made a commitment to review and protect the Riding discipline in the wake of the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. But life within the Olympic movement changes fast.
“The decision to replace Riding comes after our UIPM Executive Board endorsed a series of recommendations made by the UIPM Innovation Commission after a two-day meeting in Monaco last week.”
Raisner’s actions in Tokyo prompted the UIPM to disqualify https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/germanys-modern-pentathlon-coach-disqualified-after-punching-horse-2021-08-07 her from the men’s event, while animal advocacy group PETA called on the International Olympic Committee to eliminate https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/peta-calls-ioc-president-remove-equestrian-events-games-2021-08-13 equestrian events from the Games citing cruelty in Tokyo.
Modern pentathlon has been an Olympic sport since 1912 and features five events: fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting and cross-country running.
PETA senior vice president Kathy Guillermo welcomed UIPM’s decision to remove horse riding.
“PETA is delighted that UIPM heard PETA and the public and chose to make the pentathlon truly modern and humane,” PETA said in a statement to Reuters.
“It’s not a game for horses, and they don’t choose to compete.”
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak and Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Writing by Dhruv Munjal; Editing by Ken Ferris)
