After Paris 2024, we look to the future, to Los Angeles 2028 (see Spy Calcio of August 13): among emerging sports and historical disciplines, the cases of boxing and modern pentathlon must be resolved. Boxing is experiencing dramatic moments, we need a serious International Federation and an IOC that finally establishes clear rules. Boxing must remain in the program of the Games, it is history, the sport of the less wealthy countries. Four years ahead to clean up the environment. Weightlifting has been saved from corruption and the scourge of doping and even modern pentathlon, the soldier’s sport, will be in the USA. There have been cases of mistreatment of horses, so much so that there were even thoughts of abolishing it from the Olympic program. Then it was saved (although distorted): an important contribution was made by the Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch jr, son of art, who next year could be the new president of the IOC in place of Thomas Bach. Samaranch jr. he is a very long-standing manager, not a great personality admittedly, but he could be considered the least traumatic solution by the IOC members to take the place of the former German fencing champion.
The pentathlon has given Italy 9 Olympic medals (2 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze). At Paris 2024, Giorgio Malan, from Turin, born in 2000, obtained a wonderful bronze right at the end of the Games. Of the four Italians who qualified, Malan belongs to the Fiamme Azzurre as does Alice Sotero, while Elena Micheli and Matteo Cicinelli are from the Carabinieri. The pentathlon is a sport of military extraction, expensive, not always easy to practice: fencing, swimming, horse riding and laser run, a combined test of running and shooting. Luckily there are the military Corps (many successes in Paris for the Fiamme Oro).
Malan took us back to the golden age of Daniele Masala and Carlo Massullo. The girls were unlucky in Paris but are at the top of the world. Now equestrianism will be eliminated from the five disciplines and replaced by OCR, obstacles cross running, “an elaborate version of obstacle racing”, as former champion Daniele Masala explained with deep regret.
The modern pentathlon was invented by De Coubertin in 1912, a multifaceted, complete discipline, reserved mainly for the military. Now everything is changing, a new generation of athletes will be born. The tests on obstacle courses have been going on for two years, the young athletes are already competing with the new rules, without horses. “With this choice, the essence of the modern pentathlon is betrayed, it is a betrayal, now everything will change” explained Masala. True, there have been a couple of bad episodes, some athletes have even been punished for mistreating their horses: but was it right to distort a historic discipline like this? A compromise that does not do credit to the IOC.
#save #pentathlon #distorting #it..
– 2024-08-15 06:27:20
