Don't take away the Modern Pentathlon

In September the IOC will decide on a new sport to enter the Olympic program for 2020, and in doing so, will decide upon a sport to exit the schedule of the greatest sporting event on earth.

And sadly, current speculation suggests that the unlucky sport will be none other than the Modern Pentathlon, the brainchild of Pierre de Coubertin, the man accredited with reviving the Olympics from their ancient roots.

I personally feel that to lose the modern pentathlon from the games would be to remove the soul from the Olympic games. The victor of the Modern Pentathlon isn't just the best athlete in many disciplines of the same sport like the Heptathlon on Omnium, they are the best all round athlete in the world in all sports, it follows the ideal of a soldier with the skills to carry a message using the skills of Shooting, Fencing, Swimming, Horse Riding and Running.

The argument for removing Modern Pentathlon from the Olympics is that it lacks a following outside of Eastern Europe. I would not deny this fact however I would point out that the 23,000 seat stadium at Greenwich park was full to the rafters during the London Olympics. I think if more attention was given to the sport, people would flock in their thousands to see stars like Samantha Murray and Laura Asadauskaite.

The sport's governing body, the UIPM has offered a way of squeezing all 5 disciplines into one stadium; the idea has pros and cons: it includes a difficult to see fencing piste and a wasteful pool that would only be used for a few races, however it does offer an improved, less distracting format for the fencing and a more exciting running portion held on a 400m track.

In conclusion the IOC has a responsibility to keep the Modern Pentathlon in the Olympics, if only to prevent Baron de Coubertin from rolling in his grave although the UIPM needs to carry its weight and raise the sport's profile before it's too late.