Athens 2004 - Pentathlon news

[JEC]

Things stay the same for 2004 (Athens), but would be different in 2008 (Beijing).

The IOC met in Mexico City and decided to defer (110 vs. 2; 4 abstained) until a meeting in Prague (2005) the decisions as to whether eliminate Baseball, Softball, and Modern Pentathlon. Each of the disciplines proposed a plan and argued that they belonged in the Olympics.

The Pentathlon representative proposed to change one of their five sports (didn't say which). The IOC also approved the general principles to select sports for the Olympics (114 vs. 1; 1 abstained), and voted to continue the Olympic program committee to study specific criteria to maintain a sport in the Olympic program.

El universal (spanish)

[BugabooX]

I can see the argument to drop base- and softball for cost effectiveness alone. The series take a major chunk of time from the Olympics (and a decent amount of space) ... Time is money. They'll probably be cut. And I'm OK with that because I don't particularly appreciate either sport anyway.

Sadly, though, the pentathlon is also one of the most expensive sporting events to hold. The animal husbandry alone is a major expense, coupled with the loss of venue space for swimming and shooting that could be better(?) used for other sports. As much as I would argue for its legitimacy -- I do so love the connection between the five sports -- I'm afraid money ultimately will win out.

[epeemike81]

Originally posted by BugabooX
I can see the argument to drop base- and softball for cost effectiveness alone. The series take a major chunk of time from the Olympics (and a decent amount of space) ... Time is money. They'll probably be cut. And I'm OK with that because I don't particularly appreciate either sport anyway.

Sadly, though, the pentathlon is also one of the most expensive sporting events to hold. The animal husbandry alone is a major expense, coupled with the loss of venue space for swimming and shooting that could be better(?) used for other sports. As much as I would argue for its legitimacy -- I do so love the connection between the five sports -- I'm afraid money ultimately will win out.

Though I do thouroughly enjoy watching baseball, i understand that it is NOT a worldwide sport, and the added cost of the land to build a facility which cannot be used for anything else makes it impractical as an olympic sport. In terms of pentathlon, I believe it should be retained if only for the sake of tradition.

-m

[MikeHarm]

On the bright side, if the Pentathlon does get the axe maybe that would be more room for team fencing competitions.

[DHCJr]

Fencing is called the First Modern Olympic Sport because it was the first sport mentions in speech made by Pierre de Coubertin, but it was not the first in his heart. In the Ancient Olympic the Olympic Champion was always considered the winner of the Pentathlon. Pierre de Coubertin wanted the Modern Olympic to emulate that, but he was not able to come up with anything he felt was right until the 1912 Olympics. I agree; Pentathlon should be kept if only for the tradition.

[edew]

Exactly. As cumbersome a sport as it is, the modern pentathlon owes its existence solely to the Olympics. It is the only "Olympics" sport. All other sports are sports by themselves, and hung on to the Olympic rail for the ride. Only the Modern Pentathlon was created for the Olympics. Indeed, it should be written into all televised contracts that the Modern Pentathlon must be shown in its entirety or no contract. The sport has evolved to help become more spectator friendly, by moving it from a multi-day sport to a single-day sport, by including women in the mix, and including teams as well.