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Trump restores Presidential Fitness Test award for schools

sportsMay 5, 202627615

President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum at the White House on May 5, 2026, restoring the Presidential Fitness Test Award for schoolchildren. The memorandum revives the Cold War-era program of standardized performance benchmarks for student strength, endurance and agility rather than the health-focused assessments that supplanted it. The action reverses an Obama-administration replacement that moved schools to the Presidential Youth Fitness Program. Reintroducing performance-based awards will force school districts and physical education teachers to change curricula and testing routines and may alter how schools evaluate student fitness.

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