Latest news with #modernpentathlon
Japan Times
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Japan Times
2028 Olympic hopeful giving modern pentathlon some time in the sun in Japan
'What's modern pentathlon?' That's a question Japanese Olympic hopeful Ayumu Saito gets asked way too often. She gets it. It's one of those Olympic sports that has to be explained to people every four years. Even Saito, who has been a modern pentathlete since she was a fourth grader, thinks the multidiscipline event takes too long and can be stressful to watch. But the 28-year-old is hoping that will change between now and the next Summer Games in 2028, when modern pentathlon undergoes a dramatic transformation in an attempt to make the relatively obscure sport a hit with spectators and TV viewers, while also addressing concerns about the treatment of horses. Saito is also hoping another strong Olympic showing by a Japanese modern pentathlete — after Taishu Sato won silver in the men's event at the Paris Games for Japan's first-ever Olympic medal in the sport — will draw more eyeballs to her sport. Modern pentathlon went from being a five-day event from 1912-1980 to a four-day event in Paris, where the semifinals and finals were condensed into a 90-minute TV-friendly format. Until now, it consisted of five disciplines in four events: fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping and a combined event of laser pistol shooting and cross-country running. But when it is contested in Los Angeles, there will be no horses. Instead, athletes will compete on an obstacle course based on Japan's hit sports entertainment reality show, 'Sasuke,' known in the U.S. as "American Ninja Warrior." Ayumu Saito competes on an obstacle course during the 2024 nationals for the discipline. Starting with the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, Olympic pentathletes will compete on an obstacle course based on Japan's hit sports entertainment reality show, 'Sasuke.' | Courtesy of Ayumu Saito A rope swing, over-under-through, rings, balance beams and a warped wall were among the obstacles used in the first official test event held in Turkey in 2022. The decision to swap horse riding with Sasuke-type obstacles was prompted in part because of animal welfare concerns after a coach on the German team struck a horse during the Tokyo Olympics. The change in format likely saved the sport's status at the Games. 'I was bummed when I first heard the news because I've been riding for so long and I was quite good at the equine portion,' Saito said. 'But now I'm focusing on the good things. Everyone loves Sasuke and the inclusion of obstacle racing is a chance to introduce our sport to a new generation of young people.' When she's not training, which isn't often, Saito is either resting or modeling. Getting featured in fashion magazines is a way for Saito to promote the sport and get her name out there. She says she's tired of seeing the same faces — family and friends of athletes and officials — at competition venues, and she's eager to attract new fans to modern pentathlon. 'Many people know me as the Sasuke contestant,' said Saito, who was on the program that aired last Christmas. 'Either that, or they've seen me in a magazine. So the word is spreading. When you bump into someone who's not an athlete but knows what modern pentathlon is, that's progress.' Modern pentathlon was created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, to replicate the experience of a 19th-century cavalry soldier behind enemy lines. It is the only sport made specifically for the Olympic Games. Saito and Sato are two of only around 50 people in Japan who participate in the sport. Taishu Sato celebrates after earning silver in the men's modern pentathlon event at the Paris Olympics, in Versailles, France, in August 2024. Sato's medal was the country's first in the multidiscipline sport. | Reuters Saito's father, Hiroshi Saito, competed in modern pentathlon at the Seoul Olympics and later became a national team coach, which inspired his daughter to dream big. By junior high school, Saito was competing in international events and hoping to one day become an Olympian herself. Saito said many pentathletes in Japan are police officers or SDF members, and they start by specializing in one or two sports through high school or college before eventually adding the other disciplines. But she got a head start as she was running on a track team and swimming in a club in her early teens, when she also rode horses and fenced during long school breaks. At one point she considered focusing on fencing only because she was so good at it, but she decided she didn't want to just choose one sport. 'You have to be pretty skilled in all five disciplines, but I'm best at fencing. It's a great sport for people who are all-around athletes and get bored of doing the same thing,' Saito said. 'The ending is easy for spectators to follow because the highest scorer in the first four events starts the final event (laser run) first, and whoever crosses the finish line first wins.' Because of its relative obscurity, finding training facilities can be a barrier to entry for athletes in Japan. Saito lives in Tokyo with her father, who is also her coach, and travels by train from venue to venue in order to practice, including to Chiba Prefecture for access to an obstacle course. At one point Ayumu Saito considered focusing on fencing only because she was so good at it, but she decided she didn't want to just choose one sport and continued with modern pentathlon. | Courtesy of Ayumu Saito Qualifying for the Olympics as a modern pentathlete is never easy. But this time, competition will be even more fierce. Pentathletes will be competing for fewer spots at the next Olympics, with a reduction in quota places from 72 in Paris to 64 — 32 men and 32 women — in LA. 'It's not going to be easy. But I think I'll have a good chance if I can improve my running and swimming skills,' said Saito, who missed out on Paris Olympics selection in favor of 2022 national champion Misaki Uchida. 'I didn't enter any competitions in Japan last year but I won the nationals in 2023, so if I can do that again I'll be in a strong position to qualify.' In order to stay present in high-stakes moments, Saito listens to music and gets her nails done. 'I admire modern pentathletes who look like they're having fun while competing. Much of the game is mental. The calmer your mind, the better you perform,' Saito said. 'I like to show my non-athlete side on Instagram because I want my followers to see that I play just as hard as I work, and that I have balance in my life. I want people, especially kids, to take interest in modern pentathlon and give it a try. The more participants, the merrier.'
Forbes
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
For The 2028 Olympics, Modern Pentathlon Has Gone ‘Ninja Warrior'
With a hip new obstacle racing event and a prime place on the L.A. Olympics schedule, modern pentathlon is suddenly cool again. It's been a while, frankly. A century after Pierre de Coubertin conjured up five tests of good modern soldiering — fencing, swimming, running, shooting, and horseback riding — and made the whole thing an Olympic sport, modern pentathlon has seemed a bit antiquated. But the sport has gotten a makeover, and the sport is already noticing the effects. 'Horses out, Ninja Warrior in,' the Associated Press summed it up. In effect, obstacle course racing has replaced equestrian show jumping as one of modern pentathlon's five events. The other four are still based on skills a good overall soldier needed to possess circa 1912. Obstacle course racing, which does has military origins, slots right in. 'Our athletes are the most versatile athletes in the Games,' proclaimed Rob Stull, president of the International Union of Modern Pentathlon, the sport's governing body known by its French acronym UIPM. That versatility has included athletes accepting the change after some initial consternation — among others, Tokyo Olympic champion Joe Choong of Great Britain was one of the leaders of the opposition. Despite indicating that he would retire with the horses in Paris last summer, Choong has remained in the sport. 'We have to accept it or move on,' he told the BBC earlier this year. While he acknowledges that obstacle racing is 'fun,' Choong is still warming to it. 'It's definitely something I'm going to get stuck in with and crack on with, but I'm not sure relishing is quite the word," he said. Stull, a three-time Olympian and self-described 'horse guy' who grew up on a farm outside Washington D.C., understands. In the end, modern pressures, such as the cost of transporting horses, an unsavory incident at the Tokyo Olympics where a coach allegedly punched a horse, and the need to draw a wider TV audience combined to force UPIM's hand. The new event, a 70 meter course with eight obstacles that elite athletes are clearing in 25-35 adrenaline-packed seconds, debuted in World Cup competition earlier this year. So far things have been going relatively well, at least by one metric. 'I don't get pelted with tomatoes when I show up at events,' Stull said. 'More than anything, I get a lot of thank yous.' For a federation trying to draw attention amidst the pomp of an Olympics, obstacle course racing checks several boxes. The discipline has big name recognition thanks to Ninja Warrior, the Japanese TV show that became a global phenomenon and spawned adaptations in more than 160 countries. (The original Japanese show, Sasuke, is still on.) Taking that and combining it with the Olympics is 'a no-brainer,' said David Hill, the former Fox Sports Chairman in a promotional video released by UIPM. 'It takes modern pentatlon from being virtually unwatchable straight to prime time.' Stull defers to official nomenclature, but has been known to trade on the TV designation when describing the new event. 'The easiest thing for me to say is 'ninja,' because that's really what we're much more in line with,' he said. 'The second you say that, people understand what you're talking about.' Obstacle course wasn't the guaranteed winner when UIPM opened itself up to proposals for a new event. The federation was inundated with ideas — a total of 62 crossed his desk, Stull says. We'll never know just how close we came to having pillow fighting in the Olympics. (Stull: 'I thought it was a joke when it was submitted, but it's not. And if you watch it, they really beat the crap out of each other.') Cyclocross, where competitors ride but also carry their bikes as they navigate obstacles, was a more viable candidate, though the needle eventually landed on obstacle. The change was approved by the International Olympic Committee, which governed modern pentathlon itself until 1948. While the IOC did not push UIPM toward ninja, Stull says, it made it clear to UIPM leadership that something needed to change. 'The IOC tries to remain neutral, but they were certainly sending the messages that we needed to innovate the sport,' Stull said. 'They didn't tell us to pick obstacle. They just knew that the equestrian piece was a challenge for us and would not allow us to have the accessibility or fit into the cost model moving forward. We had that challenge in front of us, and we needed to bail ourselves out.' The new event has contributed to giving the sport a new lease on life. It has been added to the LA 2028 sports, and modern pentathlon will be contested during the opening days of the Games, when the world's attention tends to be riveted on the Olympics but when most sports are still deep in preliminary competition. 'We'll have our two medals out in the first four days. So yes, that'll help us. We have an extra day of broadcasting — that'll help us,' Stull said. So will modern pentatlon's proximity to urban sports like BMX and 3x3 basketball. It's the Olympic equivalent of finding yourself eating at the same cafeteria table as the popular people in high school. 'We're with the cool kids,' Stull affirmed proudly. This is an improvement from recent Olympiads, when modern pentathlon was held in the Games's waning days. 'That's a big deal for us, because when you're at the end of the Games, you're competing against sports like the men's gold medal basketball game,' Stull said. That new athletes may be drawn to modern pentathlon via obstacle racing is another obvious perk. While there is no discussion about replacing any other event, Stull feels there is still some tweaking to be done to optimize obstacle. For example, no one to date has failed to scale the wall in competition, and Stull wants to see the finish wall raised to make the final moments of the race even more spectacular. But those are small things. The foundation for the future has been laid. What would de Coubertin think about it all? 'He would say, 'you're welcome,'' Stull said. An innovator himself, the baron 'absolutely would have recognized the need for change.'
