Olympic pentathlon gold medalist denies the sport needs to be changed after pandemonium in Tokyo event

• The Tokyo Olympics pentathlon gold medalist has said the sport is fine as it is despite calls for change.
• The sport suffered an embarrassing affair at the games when a coach punched a disobedient horse.
• The head of Germany's Olympic committee and former athletes have called for an urgent overhaul of the rules.

Modern pentathlete Kate French, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, has said the sport is fine as it is amid rising clamor for change after a controversial event at the games.

The modern pentathlon has been a fixture at the Olympics since 1912 but there have been calls for rule changes, especially in the horse riding section following an embarrassing affair at this year's games where a coach punched a disobedient horse.

Rules state that riders are only introduced to their horses 20 minutes before the event starts. This makes it difficult for riders to bond with their horses, something that has been blamed for chaotic scenes during the event in Tokyo.

Germany's Olympics boss last week called for an "urgent overhaul" of the laws following the incident involving the horse Saint Boy, while pentathlon authorities have already announced a number of incremental changes to the event.

However, French, who competes for Team GB, has said the sport does not need to change.

"Personally I don't think it needs to be changed. The response we have had for this Olympics has been really good and I think it works great as it is.

"People really did enjoy it. It was the first time it had been in one stadium which I thought looked amazing.

"There were people saying that they haven't watched modern pentathlon before and lots of people thought it was really good to watch and see in one place." she told the Daily Telegraph.

One major overhaul that is set to go ahead is the event will now be shrunk from five hours to 90 minutes, decreasing the time athletes will have between events.

Currently, pentathletes have 15 minutes to get ready for each event but soon they will only have a third of that, a challenging aspect considering the changes needed from sports such as equestrian and fencing.

"The short time between disciplines will make a huge difference in terms of getting nutrition in and having enough energy.

"The biggest challenge is going to be the changeovers because there is a lot of kit to get sorted." French said.

French went on to express her sympathy for Schleu, but said that, unfortunately, getting a difficult horse is just part of the event.

"She had it really tough.

"The horse had a bad ride in the first round. I think anyone would have struggled to put that horse right. I've never seen that happen before."