It is to laugh...

...because otherwise, one wants to cry.

Olympics Pentathlon event to play Laser tag instead of using real pistols.

BTW, Tam wins the Internets with her post:

Given the origins of the Modern Pentathlon, this is just Theatre Of The Absurd. Maybe they could replace fencing with Rock, Paper, Scissors. And has anyone checked on the environmental impact of those horses?

In case anyone doesn't get the bit in bold typeface,  the Modern Pentathlon consists of an equestrian event, running, swimming, fencing, and pistol shooting.  It was devised specifically to test the skills that an Army officer would need while serving as a "staff galloper" or dispatch rider/courier.  You've probably heard of at least one US Olympic Penthlete...

(I recall reading in one of the Army's internal propaganda rags excellent morale-boosting publications that the usual strategy for American pentathletes is to do as well as possible at the running, swimming, and pistol events, and not fall off the horse, to make up for their bare awareness of which end of the foil to grasp.  Obviously not a problem for our boy linked to above...)