FEI: Olympics: London 2012: FEI SIGNS OFF IMPROVED FOOTING FOR LONDON 2012 EQUESTRIAN EVENTS

FEI PRESS RELEASE

Lausanne (SUI), 10 January 2012

  

The FEI has today given final sign-off on the footing that will be used for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events at Greenwich Park.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) conducted footing tests at a site near Preston in the north of England on 20 and 21 December 2011. The mix for the footing is now composed of non-waxed sand, felt and fibre.

Testing of the new footing concluded on 21 December when international riders Geoff Billington (Jumping) and Richard Davison (Dressage) rode on the surface, which had been laid on the platform structure that will be used at Greenwich Park next year.

Leopoldo Palacios, technical advisor to LOCOG, FEI Technical Delegate Frank Rothenberger, footing expert Bart Poels and FEI Director Jumping John Roche attended the test on 21 December. The technical experts produced detailed reports that were submitted to the FEI Executive Board for further evaluation prior to sign-off.

The test was also attended by International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC) representative John Whitaker, Jumping riders Peter Murphy and David McPherson, who attended as observers, two representatives from the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) and Peter Hart, LOCOG Modern Pentathlon Competition Manager.

“The riders gave some very positive feedback on the footing and this was backed up by the technical reports we received from the officials that attended the test in December”, FEI Secretary General Ingmar de Vos said. “The FEI Executive Board has now signed off on the footing and, together with LOCOG, we are delighted that the process is now in place to deliver the best possible footing for the 2012 Games. We are looking forward to excellent Olympic and Paralympic sport at the wonderful Greenwich Park venue next summer.”

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FEI: Olympics: London 2012: TWO HUNDRED DAYS TO GO TO LONDON 2012

We're back!  We apologize for our absence. We've been away too long but were're updating things at WEG Central.  In the meantime, we've begun the countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.  

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Lausanne (SUI), 9 January 2012

Twenty one nations are celebrating their Olympic qualification today, 9 January, which marks the 200-day countdown to London 2012 and 100 years of equestrian sport in the Olympic movement.

Eleven countries have now secured the opportunity to join the nine nations already qualified at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2010 in Kentucky and hosts Great Britain at London 2012 through a series of nail-biting qualifiers held around the world for their Olympic Group.

Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA and Ukraine will join hosts Great Britain in team Jumping.

Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and the USA have qualified to compete in team Dressage.

Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the USA have also secured their opportunity to compete in team Eventing.

The total number of teams competing at the 2012 Olympic Games will be confirmed on 1 March when additional composite teams in Dressage and Eventing made up of three individuals from the same nation are finalised through the FEI Olympic Riders Ranking.

Nations qualifying to send individual riders will also be confirmed on 1 March and riders then have until 17 June to achieve the necessary minimum eligibility criteria to compete at London 2012.

“We have had the most exciting build-up during the qualification period, with Canada, Germany, Sweden and the USA qualifying for team places alongside host nation Great Britain in all three Olympic equestrian disciplines,” explained Catrin Norinder, Olympic Director at the FEI.

“There are still composite team places for two disciplines to secure and of course it's all to play for with the individual riders. We're building up to a thrilling 100-year anniversary for equestrian sport in the Olympics, when 200 riders and horses will compete for individual and team gold, silver and bronze medals in Eventing, Dressage and Jumping.”

The Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXX Olympiad on 27 July will be followed by 12 days of equestrian competition and, for the first time in Olympic history, the final equestrian event will be the Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle to Music held on 9 August.

Equestrian sport has been part of the Olympic movement since the 1912 Games in Stockholm (SWE) and the FEI is working closely with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and LOCOG to maximise coverage of the competition in Greenwich Park.

For more technical information regarding the 2012 games, please follow this link>>

And, to watch coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Equestrian competitions, sign up for FEI TV to catch all the action!

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Dressage: Olympics: Australian Dressage Team aims for Olympic qualification this week

The Australian Dressage Team’s bid for Olympic qualification got underway on Friday 28 October at the Australian Dressage Championships, Sydney International Equestrian Centre.

The Grand Prix CDI-W class served as the first leg of the Dressage Regional Olympic qualifier. Due to quarantine restrictions, the qualifier will be held in two parts, one in each hemisphere, as riders and horses are based in both Australasia and Europe. The Sydney competition was the first leg whilst the second leg will be in Ermelo (NED) on 2 November.

The qualifier is open to teams from the FEI Olympic Groups F (Africa and Middle East) and G (South East Asia and Oceania). Three nations – Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa – are seeking Olympic qualification. The two best placed teams overall will join Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the USA, which have already qualified.

The same Ground Jury will judge at the two events. The panel consists of FEI 5* judges Stephen Clarke (GBR), who will also be the President of the Ground Jury at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Gotthilf Riexinger (GER) and Susan Hoevenaars (AUS), plus FEI 4* judges Mariëtte Sanders-van Gansewinkel (NED) and Raphaël Saleh (FRA).

On Friday Australia was represented by Rachael Sanna on Jaybee Alabaster and Chantal Wigan on Ferero, with the remaining two Australian team members (Mary Hanna on Sancette and Lyndal Oatley on Potifar) to compete in the Ermelo event on Wednesday. The full South African team will also compete in Ermelo.

Sanna was the best performed rider winning the class on 69.11%. Wigan finished the class in 11th position overall scoring 62.47%.

New Zealand fielded their full team in Sydney. The New Zealand Team finished with a total score of 194.77. Louisa Hill and Bates Antonello posted the highest percentage for the Kiwis (66.13%) followed by Vanessa Way on KH Arvan (65.51%) then Nicky Pope on Fabarchie (63.13%). The discard score was Shiwon Green on Gosh (61.36%).

“We were really really happy with our performance,” commented New Zealand’s Louisa Hill following their team performance in Sydney.

“It is now up to the riders in Ermelo,” said Equestrian Australia High Performance Manager Brett Mace. “We managed a solid result in Sydney so it depends on the performance of our second two riders and of course the South African team.”

A notable absence from the Australian Team was Brett Parbery and Victory Salute. Parbery was not available for selection due to an injury sidelining Victory Salute for the remainder of the year.

Results will be posted in the Equestrian Australia web site following the competition.

Results for the Grand Prix CDI-W Sydney 28 October can be found here

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Dressage: FEI: THREE MORE TEAMS QUALIFY FOR LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES DRESSAGE

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Lausanne (SUI), 19 August 2011

Sweden, Spain and Denmark qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games as a result of their placings in yesterday's FEI European Dressage Championships 2011 team competition. Sweden finished fourth on a score of 214.437%, Spain was fifth (211.580%), and Denmark sixth (209.985%). The three leading nations at the Championships had already achieved Olympic qualification. Gold medallists Great Britain are automatically qualified as next year’s Olympic Games’ host nation. The silver medallists from Germany and the bronze medallists from The Netherlands had previously secured their spots at last year's Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky.

This brings the number of teams qualified to date for London 2012 to seven: Great Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, USA (who qualified at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky), Sweden, Spain and Denmark.

The next event for direct team qualification is the Pan American Games to be held in Guadalajara (MEX) from 14 to 29 October. The two best placed teams from Olympic Groups D (North America) and E (Central and South America), excluding the USA, will secure participation in London.

The Pan American Games will be followed by the two FEI-approved qualification events which will take place in Sydney (AUS) on 28 October and Ermelo (NED) on 2 November which are open to teams from the Olympic Groups F (Africa and Middle East) and G (South East Asia and Oceania). Combined standings from both competitions will be produced and the two best ranked teams, excluding the teams listed above, will qualify for London 2012.

Eleven nations qualify directly for the 2012 Olympic Dressage competition through team competitions at FEI Championships, with a team consisting of three athletes and three horses. However, the total number of nations participating in the team competition in London may exceed 11 since additional composite teams made up of three individuals from the same nation may qualify through the FEI Olympic Athletes Rankings.

The complete qualification procedure for the Dressage competitions at the 2012 Olympic Games is available here.

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Olympics: London 2012: Artist's Rendition of Greenwich Site

The London 2012 Olymic Committee has released artist's renditions of three London 2012 Olympic competition venues, including Greenwich Park's Stadium Facility.  To view the venues - click here...

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Jumping: Olympics: SWISS JUMPING TEAM PRESENTED WITH 2008 OLYMPIC BRONZE AT 50TH ANNIVERSARY GENEVA SHOW

Niklaus Schurtenberger, Christina Liebherr, Steve Guerdat, and Pius Schwizer, 2008 Olympic Jumping team bronze medallists. © Kit Houghton / FEI

The Swiss Jumping team of Steve Guerdat, Christina Liebherr, Niklaus Schurtenberger and Pius Schwizer were tonight presented with the 2008 Olympic bronze medal at the International Geneva Horse Show.