Tag Archives: 2012 Olympic Games

FEI, Olympic Games

Olympic Athlete Biographies Available on www.fei.org

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London (GBR), 26 July 2012 – It’s the final countdown to tomorrow’s Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games and the FEI is pleased to let fans of equestrian sport know that full biographies of all the athletes that will be starring in Greenwich Park are available on the FEI website here.

This new feature, which is part of the FEI’s dedicated Olympic hub, will be of interest to the media, FEI stakeholders, and equestrian fans worldwide.

Each biography contains personal information about the rider, interesting facts and figures, and major results including Olympic and FEI World Equestrian Games, regional games, continental championships and FEI World Cups. Complete results from all of this year’s FEI events are also included.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Eventing/H.T., Events, Olympic Games

Designer Hails ‘Inspirational’ Venue

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Piggy French of Great Britain, riding Dhi Toppper W, clears the Sundials fence during the Olympic cross-country test event in Greenwich Park.

The Olympic Eventing cross-country course designer, Sue Benson, has described Greenwich Park as ‘an inspirational site’.

The world’s best Eventing riders will tackle Benson’s 6km course on 30 July.

It promises to be the pivotal phase of the competition and will complete a lengthy project for 60-year-old Benson.

‘At that time (five years ago), the trees and the roads got in the way of my vision, but I then realised what a unique site it was,’ she said.

‘I struggled with the initial concept, but saw that it could be something very special. It’s an inspirational site.

‘I wanted to represent the park and London, but it developed beyond there.

‘The iconic vision became “let’s do England”, but the fences must still fit comfortably within their environment without it becoming a theme park.’

Much has been made of the course’s tight and twisting nature over its 10-minute duration, suggesting it will be an entirely different challenge to what most riders are familiar with.

‘The real challenge was creating a track that used the hills but, in the end, to have enough gallops for the riders to enjoy the course,’ she added.

http://www.london2012.com/ — Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Competitions, Eventing/H.T., Events, Olympic Games

Pinsent Masons Opens Olympic Gate for South African Eventer

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Alexander Peternell and Asih jumping out of the water at Bramham CCI 3* 7-10 June 2012, where they completed their Olympic qualification

International law firm Pinsent Masons has won 4* event rider Alexander Peternell the legal right to represent South Africa in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

In an extraordinary process, Alex’s place on Team South Africa was confirmed late last night, hours before the Olympic eventing competition process began. The hearing was the first case to be heard under the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Ad Hoc procedure for the London 2012 Olympics.

At a first hearing last Friday, CAS overturned the decisions of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the South African Equestrian Federation (SAEF) to deny the event rider his right to compete in the equestrian eventing category.

CAS, chaired by President Stuart McInnes, upheld Alex’s claim that he satisfied SASCOC and SAEF eligibility criteria and that under the selection policy for the South African Eventing Team and the 2012 Olympic Games he should be selected to represent South Africa (rather than Paul Hart, the nominated rider). Alex was then forced to make a second hearing before CAS in Switzerland.

Continue reading Pinsent Masons Opens Olympic Gate for South African Eventer →

FEI, Olympic Games

First Olympic Horses Arrive at Greenwich Park

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Heading into the Team GB stables at Greenwich Park (c) Kit Houghton/FEI

London (GBR), 24 July 2012 – The first horses have arrived at Greenwich Park, setting for the Olympic equestrian events at London 2012.

The equine athletes’ trunks of equipment must undergo the equivalent of the airport-style “mag and bag” checks done on every person attending the Olympic Games. This has been done for the first 75 of 219 Olympic horses that have been through the specially constructed Equine Staging Facility (ESF) at Greenwich University over the past two days and all are now settled into their temporary new home by this evening.

The equine athletes have to undergo an even stricter screening process than the one that the human athletes go through before entering Olympic venues. On arrival at the ESF, horses are unloaded from their transport trucks and taken to temporary stabling, where an initial health check is carried out by a veterinary team to make sure that the horses have no signs of infectious disease or injury. This is standard bio-security procedure at all international events, and is the first layer of protection for the competition horses, and for the event itself.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Eventing/H.T., Olympic Games

Zabala-Goetschel Makes History as First Ecuadorian Event Rider at the Olympics

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Ronald Zabala-Goetschel of Wise-Equestrian will be the first Equadorian event rider to compete at the Olympics. (Photo courtesy of Shannon Brinkman)

London, England (July 20, 2012) – Ronald Zabala-Goetschel, founder of Wise-Equestrian and the Dutton RZ Saddle line, is in the process of making history for his home country of Ecuador by being the first equestrian to participate as an individual in the sport of Eventing at the Olympics!

It’s been an interesting journey for Zabala-Goetschel, who has been based in the US for the past 9 years.  Training out of Phillip Dutton’s True Prospect Farm, Zabala-Goetschel’s dream of taking his star horse, Mr. Wiseguy, to the Olympics was sidelined due to some minor soundness issues.  Zabala-Goetschel persevered as most upper level riders do, strategically acquiring several other top international horses, increasing his chances to qualify for the Olympics.

During 2011 Zabala-Goetschel purchased ODT Master Rose, a 2000 Irish Sport Horse gelding who had a very successful international career with Oliver Townend in the irons, including many successful 3* completions and several top 4* placings including Pau, where he was 13th and Luhmuehlen, where he placed 7th. This talented gelding, by the top international sire Master Imp, is a half-brother to several other international horses headed to the 2012 Olympics, including Tiana Coudray’s Ringwood Magister (Team USA) and Zara Phillip’s High Kingdom (British Team).  Clearly the decision to invest in Master Rose was a well thought out one!

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Awards, Community/Charity, FEI, Olympic Games

President of International Olympic Committee Endorses FEI Awards 2012

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23 July 2012 – Count Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has given his support to the FEI Awards 2012 as London prepares to host the Games of the XXX Olympiad.

Count Rogge, who was elected as the eighth President of the IOC in 2001 and re-elected for a new term in 2009, said:

“I am delighted to support the FEI Awards, which, since their creation in 2009, have rewarded some of the most exceptional people in the equestrian world. I encourage you to nominate individuals who give the best of themselves and embrace the Olympic values of Respect, Excellence and Friendship in their work with horses and in their everyday lives.”

The FEI Awards have since their creation in 2009 rewarded 15 individuals in five categories: HSBC Rising Star, Reem Acra Best Athlete, Development, Against All Odds and Best Groom.

Nominations can be made via the dedicated website www.feiawards.org.

Media contact:

Marianne Burkhardt
Corporate Communications Manager
Marianne.burkhardt@fei.org
+41 21 544 10 45
+41 78 750 61 50

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, FEI, Olympic Games, Show Jumping

A Wide-Open Contest for Jumping Glory

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Canada's Ian Millar will be setting a new Olympic record across all sports when lining out in his 10th Games at London 2012. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.

Lausanne (SUI), 20 July 2012 – Since equestrian sport was first officially embraced by the Olympic movement a century ago, Jumping has always been the largest and most popular discipline, and the historical records tell of wonderful horse-and-rider partnerships whose names will never be forgotten. Golden heroes like Germany’s Hans Günter Winkler, Italy’s Raimondo d’Inzeo and Graziano Mancinelli, Pierre Jonqueres d’Oriola from France and America’s Bill Steinkraus are the stuff of legend, their names forever forged into the annals of their sport.

At the Beijing 2008 Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong four years ago, the Canadians broke new ground as Eric Lamaze and the late, great stallion Hickstead helped earn the first-ever individual title for their country. It was an epic battle in which Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson had to settle for silver with Ninja, while America’s Beezie Madden and Authentic took the bronze. All three of these riders will be in action once again at London 2012 where the Americans will be vying for a hat-trick of team titles. If they succeed, they will join Germany as the only other nation to clinch gold at three successive Olympic Games.

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Competitions, Events, FEI, Olympic Games

Greenwich Park Footing Passes Final Review

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Lausanne (SUI), 19 July 2012 – A final assessment has been carried out on the all-weather footing at Greenwich Park, and given approval by the FEI.

Debbie Jevans, LOCOG Director of Sport, who was present at the assessment, commented: “With support from the FEI, the contractors and our own team have done a great job to get the make-up of the surface right, and we now believe this will be a world class surface for the equestrian athletes in a stunning Olympic venue.”

The surface was changed after last year’s test event following feedback from officials and riders. The assessment took place on the main arena, and involved two high-level competition horses which worked on the surface and jumped fences. The surface mixture of sand and fibre has been further improved by the addition of a binder. Approximately 8,500 tonnes will be used at Greenwich Park.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Dressage, Events, FEI, Olympic Games

Big Buzz Ahead of Olympic Dressage at Greenwich Park

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The Netherlands' Anky Van Grunsven celebrated a hat-trick of back-to-back Individual Olympic titles at the Beijing 2008 equestrian events in Hong Kong. She is pictured riding double Olympic champion Salinero who will line out once again at London 2012.

Lausanne (SUI), 18 July 2012 – There was a time when the world of international Dressage was all too predictable, but how much that has changed. Since the last Olympic Games in 2008 this sport has experienced an extraordinary make-over which, despite the reticence of the purists, has ensured that the buzz ahead of London 2012 could hardly be more electrifying.

Who could have known that one black stallion would prance into a floodlit arena on an August night in 2009 and that things would never be the same again? The Dutch combination of Totilas and Edward Gal are no longer together, and the horse whose magical spell attracted a whole new audience to this most disciplined of sports during a record-breaking spree that is already the stuff of legend, will not be returning to the country where it all began during the FEI European Championships three years ago. His new rider, Germany’s Mathias Alexander Rath, cannot compete in London due to unfortunate ill-health, but Totilas has already created a wonderful legacy – gone is the stuffiness, and the fear of making a mistake. If riders are prepared to take the risk, the rewards for expressive, inspired performances – while still retaining the accuracy – are scores like we have never seen before.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, Olympic Games

Eventing First Up as Greenwich Welcomes the Equestrian World

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Germany's Hinrich Romeike took Eventing Team and Individual gold in Hong Kong where the equestrian events of the Beijing Olympic Games took place in 2008.

Lausanne (SUI), 17 July 2012 – With just 10 days to go to the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the hopes and dreams of equestrian athletes and their support crews are all focused on Greenwich Park, in the heart of England’s capital city.

It would be difficult to find a more gracious location in which to celebrate equestrian sport’s century of involvement in the Olympic movement. And the three Olympic disciplines of Eventing, Dressage and Jumping can be expected to provide 14 days of extraordinary sport.

Eventing leads the way, with the First Horse Inspection taking place on the same day as IOC President, Jacques Rogge, greets Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, at the entrance to the Olympic Stadium at Marshgate Lane during the London 2012 Opening Ceremony on Friday 27 July.

Continue reading Eventing First Up as Greenwich Welcomes the Equestrian World →