Presidential Fitness Test to return through Trump executive order
Kids in America's public schools will soon be lacing up their sneakers for the Presidential Fitness Test after President Donald Trump announced its return more than a decade after it was discontinued.
Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that will expand the President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition and bring back the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools.
"I'm pleased to announce that we're officially restoring the Presidential Fitness Test and the Presidential Fitness Award. And it's going to be a very big thing," Trump said at the order signing Thursday afternoon, adding that the test "was a wonderful tradition, and we're bringing it back."
The fitness test, which began under former President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, will return after it was discontinued in 2012 during former President Barack Obama's presidency. Obama replaced it with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, a comprehensive school-based program that promoted living an active and healthy lifestyle.
While there have been different versions of the Presidential Fitness Test, the one most are familiar with includes a one-mile run, pull-ups or push-ups, sit-ups, shuttle run and sit-and-reach, according to Harvard Health. It's not yet clear what will be included in the Trump administration's Presidential Fitness Test.
"President Trump wants to ensure America's future generations are strong, healthy, and successful. President Trump wants every young American to have the opportunity to emphasize healthy, active lifestyles -- creating a culture of strength and excellence for years to come," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told ABC News in a statement on Thursday.
It's all part of the administration's goal to develop "bold and innovative fitness goals" for young Americans -- a move that aims to foster a new generation of healthy, active individuals, the White House official said.
Trump signed the executive order Thursday afternoon where surrounded by several athletes, including Kansas City Chiefs' kicker Harrison Butker; professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau; Chief Content Officer of the WWE and son-in-law of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Paul "Triple H" Levesque; and former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, a registered sex offender.
"We have an opportunity in being [on] the 70th anniversary of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition to literally change the fabric of kids' lives," DeChambeau said. "And our first initiative is to bring back and reignite the President's Fitness Test."
The order comes as the Trump administration weighs in on sports -- including a ban on transgender athletes participating in women's sports. Also, the United States is set to host several major sports events over the course of Trump's second term, including the Ryder Cup, the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and the summer Olympics in 2028.
