The statement was issued two days before the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) Congress, when there is set to be a consultation over what should replace riding, after a decision was made to controversially drop the discipline following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The sport has been under the spotlight after an incident during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when German coach Kim Raisner was sent home from the Games when video footage showed her punching the horse Saint-Boy during this part of the competition.

Several horses refused to jump, including Saint-Boy, ridden by Germany’s Annika Schleu, who was leading the competition before the riding discipline.

In their statement the family say: "In one of his writings, Coubertin said that if he had to redo what he did 100 years later he would probably do it very differently.

"Coubertin understood that adaptation was a part of staying relevant with the spirit of the times.

"We all agree that since its introduction in 1912 at the Stockholm Olympic Games, modern pentathlon has brilliantly adapted to modern times. For example, creative changes such as replacing pistol with the laser run.

"We believe that what matters most is the spirit and intention behind the unique sport of pentathlon. Coubertin saw in this event a veritable consecration of the complete athlete that he called ‘a first-rate educational character’.

"If today, the horse riding discipline is called to go, we believe Coubertin would appreciate a change towards a discipline that embodies the spirit of pentathlon and modernises the sport."

Riding has featured since modern pentathlon was introduced at the Stockholm 1912 Olympic Games, with De Coubertin’s inspiration for creating the sport a desire to “test an athlete’s moral qualities as much as his physical resources and skills, producing thereby the ideal, complete athlete”.

The UIPM’s decision to drop the riding discipline has been met with a fierce backlash from pentathletes, with more than 650 issuing a vote of no confidence in UIPM President Klaus Schormann, and 46 signing an open letter to IOC President Thomas Bach calling for him to personally intervene to reverse the decision.

Pentathlon United, a group formed to resist riding’s removal from the sport have also called for the UIPM leadership to resign and the Congress to be delayed.

UIPM vice-president Joel Bouzou has issued an open letter calling for pentathletes to "embrace a future without riding" and arguing it was time for the sport to "erase its reputation as a sport for high society and the elite - before it is too late."

The UIPM Congress is set to be held virtually on November 27 and 28, with Schormann set to be re-elected unopposed, after being announced as the only candidate for the post.