Horse vs Bicycle: result

[yello]

I reckon the (modern) pentathlon should be 5 mystery events. Competitors won't know what they are until the day of the event. Kinda like 'Squid Games' but without the 'elimination'

Olympic egg and spoon. You know it makes sense.

 

[matticus]

After digesting this overnight, I confess I'm totally baffled:
- There MUST have been other ways to mitigate the horse lottery/cruelty problem.
- It seems to totally lose the event's character. It's just a different heptathlon-type event - with some fencing, which seems just slightly odd.

[It would be more fun like triathlon, as a continuous event, encouraging you to wear the same "penta-suit" for all events to save time.]

 

[yello]

encouraging you to wear the same "penta-suit" for all events to save time.]

With points for sartorial creativity.

 

[JBGooner]

I hope they don't.

That Annika Schleu and Saint Boy was one of the highlights of the Olympics for me

 

[BrumJim]

I hope they don't.

That Annika Schleu and Saint Boy was one of the highlights of the Olympics for me

If only the Germans had a word for Schadenfreude.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I have always thought that the concept of a rider and horse being part of a high level competition when they do not know each other, is rather random
Seems to me - as a person who has very seldom ridden a horse and never without someone holding the reigns for me - that I would rather watch a competition where there is less random factors
Imagine the Tour de France where ever rider is allocated a bike at random at the start of the day and they have to cope with the saddle height, gears, cranks and - GASP - type of brakes - as they are

 

[figbat]

The Dressage will look a bit iffy, though!

But there's no dressage in the pentathlon!

I have always thought that the concept of a rider and horse being part of a high level competition when they do not know each other, is rather random
Seems to me - as a person who has very seldom ridden a horse and never without someone holding the reigns for me - that I would rather watch a competition where there is less random factors
Imagine the Tour de France where ever rider is allocated a bike at random at the start of the day and they have to cope with the saddle height, gears, cranks and - GASP - type of brakes - as they are

I kind of agree, although your analogy fails a little insomuch as with a horse and rider, both are able to adapt to and react to the others behaviours and inputs. You can influence how a horse behaves with your own behaviour - a bike has no such interaction. And besides, even when you are given a strange horse, you will still adjust it to fit by setting the stirrups at the right height.

I don't know the specifics of modern pentathlon riding discipline, but I assume the pairing is given some time to warm up together. A decent rider on a half decent horse ought to be able to work each other out well enough to complete a short course of jumps. Although I seem to recall that Saint Boy had some form in the misbehaviour stakes and one can't rule out ill health or undiagnosed injury as a reason for apparent bad behaviour.

 

[matticus]

A decent rider on a half decent horse ought to be able to work each other out well enough to complete a short course of jumps.

2 rather key words in BOLD there - the vast majority of riders do ok with their allocated hosses, at most Olympics.
It's the one bad apple that catches the eye and - in this case - creates a kerfuffle.
(Of course if you're a more decent rider than her, please do let us know.)

 

[Punkawallah]

Scrap all of the events - if it is to be a ‘modern’ pentathlon, let them base the events on Grabd Theft Auto or similar :-)

 

[Beebo]

A bit of jeopardy has clearly always been part of pentathlon. Sport often has inherent unfairness. Golf can be influenced by changeable weather over the day.
Pentathlon required a participant to ride an unknown horse which I presume is a skill.
Riding a bike doesn’t seem like a similar skill and will just make pentathlon like triathlon with guns and swords.

 

[PK99]

I reckon the (modern) pentathlon should be 5 mystery events. Competitors won't know what they are until the day of the event. Kinda like 'Squid Games' but without the 'elimination'

Olympic egg and spoon. You know it makes sense.

Ditto cycling world championships.
Mystery disciplines - turn up and ride!

 

[T4tomo]

its no different to that (admittedly non-olympic) sport of sheep dog trialling. Yes you have your own dog, but you get allocated 5 sheep to deal with at random and if you get a stubborn or wild sheep then you jus have to deal with it. you cant all use the same 5 sheep as they would "know" what to do and where to go so would probably leg it through the hurdles and into the pen by the last team got a go!

 

[matticus]

its no different to that (admittedly non-olympic) sport of sheep dog trialling. Yes you have your own dog, but you get allocated 5 sheep to deal with at random and if you get a stubborn or wild sheep then you jus have to deal with it. you cant all use the same 5 sheep as they would "know" what to do and where to go so would probably leg it through the hurdles and into the pen by the last team got a go!

Do the farmers* ever get caught thumping a sheep if it doesn't cooperate?
*or the dogs.

 

[T4tomo]

Do the farmers* ever get caught thumping a sheep if it doesn't cooperate?
*or the dogs.

I don't believe one man and his dog is a big thing with temperamental Germans, so no

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Competitors will be assigned a random bike. Sometimes the bike too small, sometimes too large, some will have punctures, some will have poor gear shifting. All part of the fun.