NICK KOZAK
Bethany McChesney, second in the women’s elite Spartan race at Ski Brimacombe, says adding obstacle course racing to modern pentathlon is a step in the right direction for the sport.
ORONO, Ont.—By the time Bethany McChesney ran up the final steep hill, hauled herself over the metal slip wall and leapt the fire jump to finish the Toronto Spartan Super 10K, she was exhausted, accomplished and, of course, covered in mud.
Now that obstacle course racing looks set to hit the Olympic stage — replacing show jumping in modern pentathlon, of all things — she’s hoping people start to see beyond the mud. (Just in case modern pentathlon doesn’t immediately come to mind, that’s the one where athletes fence, swim, run, shoot laser pistols and ride horses over jumps.)
This month, the sport’s governing body announced it would test obstacle races in place of show jumping starting in June, in hopes of staying on the Olympic program past the 2024 Paris Games.
McChesney ran track in university, but when she tells people what she does now they either don’t know what it is or “people are like, ‘Oh, mud runs.’”
“I want people to see the athleticism involved, and how diverse you have to be as an athlete to be able to do obstacles really well,” said McChesney, who finished second in the women’s elite field last Saturday.
“I don’t know how the pentathletes feel about switching from equestrian to swinging on obstacles, but I’m really excited about it. It’s a step in the right direction for our sport. It gives us a little bit more legitimacy, instead of just being this fringe sport.”
For the most part, modern pentathletes are furious. An athletes group has accused its federation of destroying the sport, called for an investigation into closed-door decision-making and demanded the resignation of the body’s decades-long president.
At first glance, it seems like a bizarre choice to swap for elegant show jumping. But modern pentathlon has been fighting for relevancy, ratings and, most important, to stay in the Olympics. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has already welcomed rock climbing, surfing and skateboarding, and has called on modern pentathlon to “demonstrate a significant reduction in cost and complexity and improvements across the areas of safety, accessibility, universality and appeal for youth and (the) general public.”
Obstacle sports — including ninja competitions, adventure racing and obstacle course races — have millions more participants and fans than modern pentathlon worldwide. The sport’s fun, youthful vibe was on display at last weekend’s Spartan event at the Brimacombe ski resort, an hour east of Toronto. Music started pumping just after sunrise, and everything from energy drinks to branded clothing was on offer at sponsor kiosks.
More than 1,100 competitors ran the hilly 10K course while navigating 28 obstacles — including crawling uphill under barbed wire, throwing a spear, swinging from monkey bars and hoisting heavy bags, with 30-burpee penalties for failed attempts.
Participation in this single race was nearly four times the estimated number of modern pentathletes in Canada at all levels. And, of course, there are no distressed horses in obstacle sports.
At last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, a German modern pentathlon coach punched a horse that wouldn’t jump. That was the crisis that set this whole plan in motion, but there have been problems for decades.
“Horseback riding has always been a major challenge for the sport. It’s very, very expensive, so that restricts participation,” said George Skene, two-time Olympian and spokesperson for Pentathlon Canada.
This year, Pentathlon Canada’s board stated “by replacing riding with a more accessible fifth discipline, modern pentathlon can be practised in more countries by more people, increasing the number of competitions, athletes and viewers.”
There are still few details, but Skene is open to the obstacle sports option.
“If they come up with an obstacle course that is exciting and fun and people don’t break their arms and legs, I think it could have a lot of appeal,” he said.
Modern pentathlon is counting on it, haven’t been left off the schedule for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics — along with boxing (plagued by judging scandals) and weightlifting (doping scandals), which will also have convince the IOC they can reform to return to the menu. The sport’s international federation has said obstacle sports are “compatible with the DNA of modern pentathlon, which examines the complete athlete as created by Pierre de Coubertin,” founder of the modern Olympics.
On that front, Joe De Sena, founder and chief executive of the Spartan endurance sports brand, couldn’t agree more. At the elite level, he says, obstacle course racing requires “a pretty unbelievable engine ... You’ve got to be able to run, climb, crawl, lift. You’ve got to use every part of your body, soul and spirit to get this done.”
He’s been working for years to get obstacle sports into the Olympics, and hopes that modern pentathlon’s proposal proves to be the first step toward getting their own event in the Games.
De Sena grew up racing BMX bicycles and riding skateboards, and saw the mainstream boost those sports got from Olympic inclusion.
“When you watch the Olympics, it’s just majestic and it’s legitimate and it’s forever,” he said. “At least it feels that way — nothing’s forever.”
Kerry Gillespie is a Toronto-based sports reporter for the Star. Reach her via email: kgillespie@thestar.ca