RIO DE JANEIRO – The only Olympic sport with “modern” in its name recently saw its place in the Games threatened, perhaps for not being modern enough.

Modern pentathlon has a proud heritage, having been conceived by Baron Pierre de Coubertin – the founder of the modern Olympics – but was subjected to a vote in 2013 to cling onto its place in sports’ greatest spectacle.

If it seems like this article is using the word “modern” a lot, there is a reason for that. The International Olympic Committee is in the midst of a sweeping program of modernization, aimed at remaining relevant for younger audiences and appealing to television networks’ deep pockets.

This week, the IOC will vote on the potential introduction of a group of new sports – including skateboarding, surfing and climbing, specifically chosen to capture youthful attention.

“For a sport like ours, the important balance was to keep one foot rooted in tradition and our historic values,” Rob Stull, a former Olympian and managing director of USA Modern Pentathlon, told USA TODAY Sports. “But we need the other foot keeping us relevant and attractive and giving people what they want to watch. For any sport to be sure of its survival, you need to be fan-friendly and good for television.”

Modern pentathlon will take place at the Deodoro Stadium, Aquatics Center and Youth Arena from Aug. 18-20 and will keep its place for Tokyo in 2020 after beating out wrestling in an elimination vote more than three years ago. Wrestling was later reinstated after making changes to its format.

In modern pentathlon, the changes have been striking, and more are to follow. Modern pentathlon was designed to find the “ultimate athlete” – famed World War II general George S. Patton competed in 1912. Once five different events, the running and shooting portions were amalgamated for London in 2012, for a dual event similar to biathlon in the Winter Games.

The guns are different too, with shooting now taking place with lasers. As recently as 1984, not only were real guns used but the target was, rather troublingly, the silhouette of a person.

The IOC these days likes edginess, and surfing and skateboarding certainly have the requisite cool factor. Skate legend Tony Hawk has thrown his backing behind the move, which will be discussed and decided at the IOC session. “(The Olympics) needs our excitement,” Hawk said recently.

Surfing icon Kelly Slater has said he would compete in the sport was introduced for 2020, even though he will be 48 at the time.

By then, modern pentathlon will be even more different from its past incarnation, where five sports would be held on separate days, with little in the way of media coverage. It did, however, bring one of the more bizarre Olympic scandals in 1976, when the Soviet Union’s Boris Onischenko was banished from the Games for using a gadget that allowed him to register points in the fencing discipline, even when he had not touched his opponent.

From Tokyo onwards, modern pentathlon will be staged in a single stadium venue, conducted over no more than five hours. Fencing will be a winner-stays-on tournament with the highest-ranked athletes going last; swimming will be in a pool built into the infield, while the equestrian will take place inside the track.

“It is a great move, and I think it was really necessary,” former modern pentathlete Sheila Taormina said. Taormina was a swimming star who won gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay in Atlanta, before switching to triathlon for the two Games that followed before finishing her Olympic career in modern pentathlon in Beijing. “Anything you can do to make your sport more exciting is going to protect you a little bit. Being in the Olympics is very competitive and if you don’t move with the times you can be under threat.”

No sport is guaranteed an Olympic spot past 2020, but hopes are high in the modern pentathlon community that the changes will have the desired effect.

Other sports seeking introduction and reinstatement this week are karate and baseball/softball. It is likely that the new sports will either come in as a package, or not at all. All were shortlisted for their youth appeal as well as their equality in terms of gender numbers.