Swapping horses for ninja warriors: The Olympic sport undergoing massive change

By Ben Church, CNN

(CNN) — Several Olympic sports have evolved over the years to keep up with an ever-changing landscape, but few have been as drastic as the Modern Pentathlon.

Ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the ancient sport has modernized yet again – in a way you might not expect.

Until recently, the event consisted of the following five disciplines: fencing, horse riding, swimming, shooting and running.

But in recent years, the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) has looked to overhaul the sport’s image, injecting youth and greater accessibility into a sport which has roots in Ancient Greece.

The headline from all the changes is the decision to drop horse riding and replace it with obstacle racing – Ninja Warrior style.

“While yes, we are a sport with more than a century of Olympic heritage, our recent innovations have made us more vibrant, more accessible and more relevant – ready to connect with new generations,” UIPM President Rob Stull said in a press release.

“I like to say that we are one of the ‘cool kids in LA.’”

Obstacle racing will still be accompanied by swimming and fencing, with the final discipline being a combination of running and laser shooting (a slight modernization in itself).

And while not everyone has been happy with such a major shift, notably all those pentathletes who spent years honing their equestrian skills, the sport deemed it a necessary disturbance in order to maintain its status as an Olympic event.

As a result of the change, obstacle racing now operates under the UIPM umbrella and holds its own specific championships. That’s attracted a host of new athletes to Modern Pentathlon – or, in the case of the Beckstrands, an entire family.

Real life Ninja Warriors

Based out of Utah, brothers Kai and Luke Beckstrand are two of the best obstacle runners in the world. They sprang to prominence on the television show American Ninja Warrior and have since become the face of the Modern Pentathlon’s attempted glow-up.

Both have been immersed in the sport since they first learned to walk and were introduced to obstacles by their parents. The family now runs an obstacle gym that allows the brothers to train whenever they want.

They now spend up to six hours a day honing their craft.

“We already have that skill when it comes to getting on the obstacles. It’s now become about training those transition points and how we can be as efficient as possible getting from obstacle to obstacle, not necessarily the obstacle itself,” Kai, 20, tells CNN Sports over video call while explaining how training with his younger brother allows them both to push each other to new levels.

“We do a lot of weightlifting, plyometric-style explosive movements and rock climbing to, kind of, just keep our grip strength good.”

Attributes, it’s fair to say, that are quite different from those needed to excel in equestrian.

That’s very much the issue facing existing modern pentathletes who have had to quickly learn how to excel across the obstacles. It’s perhaps unsurprising that such a big change did not go down well with everyone.

“People say you are making modern pentathlon modern again, but you can’t make that argument when sports like archery are still in the Olympics,” British athlete Joe Choong said back in 2024. “We will still have a sport called modern pentathlon, but it is not the real one.”

But while the sport’s new look will take some getting used to, organizers believe the changes will be worth the obvious issues they create if it repositions itself as a younger and sharper Olympic event.

And for the brothers, the collaboration is also a chance to promote obstacle racing and their passion for the discipline – essentially piggybacking on Modern Pentathlon’s long history and established audience.

“The hope for us is to get it as its own discipline, so that we can compete in the Olympics as well,” Kai says.

“But if we can get more eyes from the American Ninja Warrior TV show, that may not even know what the Modern Pentathlon is, that’s going to get more eyes on it. I think it’s a little more exciting than the horse jumping.

“With the obstacles, you’re not reliant on your horse. You’re reliant on your own abilities. Coming into this competition, it’s solely based on your performance now.”

A multi-discipline barrier

However, the brothers – and other obstacle athletes – share a similar problem with those legacy modern pentathletes.

Heading into LA 2028, neither believes they have the skills to compete in the other four disciplines, making the Olympics a distant dream… for now.

“I think I’ve definitely thought of [training for the Olympics], but when we went to go try swimming, try those other disciplines, we weren’t the greatest,” Luke Beckstrand, 18, says while sitting next to his brother

“I know we’ll get better as we train, but I just think we are really busy with our schedules and more focused on the obstacle portion of the pentathlon.”

His older brother, Kai, has similar thoughts while also balancing his current training with work as a firefighter.

“We’re just, kind of, in a position right now where we don’t have anywhere to train those other disciplines,” the 20-year-old said.

So while the sport is trying something different in order to survive in an ever-changing Olympic landscape, it’s by no means going to be a guaranteed success overnight.

The talent gap that now exists across the sport needs time to close while athletes come to terms with a very different discipline.

It should, though, make for interesting viewing when the LA Olympics roll around in 2028.

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