The modern pentathlon will switch to using laser pistols for the shooting portions of the event in the 2012 Olympics. Super cool sci-fi twist, or major puss move?
Gone are the days of actually using guns, and putting a visible hole in a piece of paper or cardboard duck cutout or whatever they did. (Actually, the firearm days are long gone; until now, they used air pistols.) They’ve tried it out at the sports’ world cup, and at the youth championships, and laser guns are in for London 2012.
Klaus Schormann, president of world governing body the UIPM, said: “We will have laser shooting for London. We can now hold competitions in parks and shopping malls.”
It’ll also cut costs by as much as two-thirds, because photons come cheaper than bullets.
We were all set to get our panties in a twist over the radical change, but then we remembered that modern pentathlon consists of running, shooting, swimming, fencing, and riding horses over little hurdles. So who really gives a shit anyway.
Pentathlon switches to laser guns for London 2012 Games [BBC]
