“It doesn’t reflect participation rates of 60 percent men, 40 percent women. The IOC has recognized that we need to tackle this issue,” ICF secretary general Simon Toulson said.
Modern pentathlon, one of the oldest and most traditional of Olympic sports, is seeking a historic change.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, designed the sport as a test of soldiering skills in which competitors must shoot, fence, swim 200m, ride a horse over a showjumping course and run 3,000m.
The International Modern Pentathlon Union voted last year to combine pistol shooting and running into one final discipline with a staggered start.
The changes aim to shorten the event and create a more dynamic finish in which the winner is determined by crossing the line first rather than accumulating the most points.
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