The governing body approved proposals for the new formats at their Executive Board meeting, which took place at Olympic House in Lausanne and was attended by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.

The UIPM say the new modern pentathlon concept will include an elimination system.

Three or four test events are expected to be scheduled prior to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which the UIPM claim will give the format a “rigorous examination”.

A final report will be produced to determine the success of the format after the test events.

Approval will then be required from the UIPM General Assembly in November.

IOC sport director Kit McConnell also spoke at the Executive Board meeting, which was chaired by UIPM President Klaus Schormann.

McConnell reportedly answered questions on the sport programme for the Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

The UIPM also rubber stamped the format for their tetrathlon competitions at the Dakar 2022 Summer Youth Olympic Games.

The tetrathlon format incorporates fencing into their existing triathle event, which combines swimming with laser run.

One final test event will take place for tetrathlon before the format is finalised, according to the UIPM.

The governing body claims the modern pentathlon and tetrathlon formats will make the events more visually appealing to spectators.

“We have had two days of very important discussions about the future presentation of our sport, especially in the future at Dakar 2022 and Paris 2024,” said Schormann.

“It was a great honour for us that Dr Bach joined us for the meeting and we had a very interesting debate.

“Our Executive Board Members asked him questions and the IOC President provided a clear indication of which direction the IOC is going and also which direction International Federations should be going.

“I am very happy that what was proposed in Frankfurt by the various UIPM Committees and Working Groups was accepted by the Executive Board.

“Now what we have is our union moving in the right direction for youths but also for the juniors and seniors who will be competing at future Olympic Games.”

The UIPM also agreed a distribution system to ensure proportionate continental representation at Dakar 2022, following the announcement the sports' quota of athletes had been increased from 48 to 64.

Provisional membership was awarded to Croatia and North Macedonia at the Executive Board meeting, following applications from the two countries.