Happy Pierre de Coubertin Pentathlon Day!
Commemorating the founder of the modern Olympic Games' initiative for a multi-sport event as a "test for an ideal, well-rounded soldier", the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) established September 9 for recognition of the sports' origins. Thought of as a representation of a soldier needing to swim, fence, ride horseback, shoot, and run from behind enemy lines, the sport has been on the Olympic program since Stockholm 1912.
With its oddball conception and historically spectator-unfriendly, modern pentathlon has often been overlooked as a key Olympic sport, and often seen at risk in the schedule. But it's worked to be adaptive to remain in the IOC's good graces, and I personally find it charming that de Coubertin's specific sport concept is still included. With 125 international federation members, - a diversity of nations, including Great Britain, Egypt, Ireland, South Korea, Lithuania, the United States, Mexico, Hungary, Ecuador, France, Japan, Guatemala, and more appeared at Tokyo 2020 - it's also still undoubtedly an active, global sport. World championships have been held since 1949, with individual, team, and relay events for both men and women. A mixed relay event has also been on the world championship program since 2010, and here's hoping it'll be added to the Olympics as well to further support the IOC's commitment to gender equity.
#HighFive to modern pentathlon!
With its oddball conception and historically spectator-unfriendly, modern pentathlon has often been overlooked as a key Olympic sport, and often seen at risk in the schedule. But it's worked to be adaptive to remain in the IOC's good graces, and I personally find it charming that de Coubertin's specific sport concept is still included. With 125 international federation members, - a diversity of nations, including Great Britain, Egypt, Ireland, South Korea, Lithuania, the United States, Mexico, Hungary, Ecuador, France, Japan, Guatemala, and more appeared at Tokyo 2020 - it's also still undoubtedly an active, global sport. World championships have been held since 1949, with individual, team, and relay events for both men and women. A mixed relay event has also been on the world championship program since 2010, and here's hoping it'll be added to the Olympics as well to further support the IOC's commitment to gender equity.
#HighFive to modern pentathlon!
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Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and Udobi Onwuzurike of Nigeria are just two of Africa's up-and-comers leading a track sprint surge.
BMX racer Connor Fields appears on Instagram to say thanks as a progress on his crash recovery.
Tennis superstar Venus Williams is "the icon we all need right now" as Cosmopolitan's featured cover girl for October.
Leylah Fernandez may be one to watch in tennis, but fellow teenager Emma Raducanu also makes her mark as the first-ever man or woman to go from the qualifiers to the semifinals at the U.S. Open.
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Meanwhile, Tokyo 2020 Olympian Sarah Davies voices positivity for recent structural changes at the International Weightlifting Federation. Is it enough?
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Catriona Matthew (Getty Images)
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