The Olympic Ambition

TEXT: AMELIA CAMPBELL-HORNE

Over 100 years ago, Equestrian sport joined the Olympic programme with Eventing, Dressage and Jumping introduced at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. In all the years since then, which young aspiring rider has not dreamed of proudly representing their country at the Olympics one day? But how does one go about getting there? The intricate details of the qualification process can be pretty complicated, so we have tried to break it down and simplify it as much as possible. So here is our “easy as 1, 2, 3” guide, which might give you a newfound appreciation for our Olympic athletes!

1 - COVER THE BASICS!

Before we get into the details, there are few things one has to ensure:

1. You (the rider) need to be at least 16 years old to participate in Dressage or 18 years old to participate in Jumping and Eventing.

2. Your horse must be at least eight years old for Dressage and Eventing and nine years of age for Showjumping. The good news is, there is no maximum age, so there's no need to give up on your Olympic aspirations just yet!

3. You and your horse also need to be valid members of your National Federation.

Next, all athletes must also comply with the Olympic Charter currently in force; there are two specific and noteworthy rules here:

• Firstly, Rule 41 concerns the nationality of the competitor, which must be the same as the National Olympic Committee that enters the competitors. For equestrians, this also means ensuring that your horse carries the same nationality as you! And how does one ascertain the nationality of the horse, you might ask? Well, it is determined by the nationality of the horse owner, so your horse is a South African if he is owned by a South African.

• Secondly, Rule 43 is the World Anti-Doping Code and the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions and this must be complied with in all particulars.

2 - MEET THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

So, if you have ticked the first few boxes, the next thing is to meet the Minimal Eligibility Requirements (MERs). These are discipline-specific and need to be met within the 18 months leading up to an Olympic Games and no more than five weeks before the sport entry deadline. Additionally, they can only be achieved at selected Olympic ranking events as determined by the FEI. Unfortunately, for Dressage and Eventing, there are no such events hosted in South Africa at this stage, which means athletes would have to travel and compete abroad to attain their MERs.

So, what are the Minimum Eligibility Requirements for each discipline?

For Dressage, an Athlete/Horse combination must score a minimum of 66% in two Grand Prix tests at two different International Dressage Events (CDI) of at least 3* stars. Furthermore, for an MER result to be valid, the 5* star judge at each event cannot be of the same nationality as the athlete.

For Eventing, a combination would need to achieve a qualifying result at the following International Eventing Competitions CCI 5*-L (3-day event), CCI 4*-L (3-day event) and a CCI4*-S (one-day event). A qualifying result, in this case, requires minimum dressage scores of 55%, crosscountry tests must be jumped clear with no more than 75 seconds over the optimal time for CCI4* events or 100 seconds for CCI5*, and no more than 16 penalties in the jumping phase.

Finally, Showjumping allows the most options to meet the MERs, especially if you are campaigning from Europe or America. However, there is still an opportunity for a South African based rider to meet the MERs in South Africa! Any Athlete/Horse combinations that have completed the first two rounds of two FEI World CupTM Competitions with a score of no more than zero (0) penalties have achieved the MERs. However, the quarantine period (just short of four months) required to travel the horse out of South Africa to the Olympic venue is not ideal for the form of the horse and rider combination, but thanks to our very own Lisa Williams and Campbell we know it is possible!

3 - ENSURE YOURSELF A QUOTA SPOT!

For each Olympic sport, a certain number of entries (or quota) are allocated. Equestrian sport at the 2020 Summer Olympics has 200 quota places (entries) divided between the three disciplines: 75 to Jumping, 65 to Eventing, and 60 to Dressage. Most of these entries are for team allocations (who also receive three individual competition entries). There are 20 teams of three riders for Jumping and 15 teams of three riders for Eventing and Dressage. This means that there are only 15 individual entries up for grabs for Jumping and Dressage and 20 for Eventing. Only National Olympic Committees (NOCs) that did not qualify teams are eligible for individual places, but they can only earn one individual place in Dressage and Jumping and up to two individual places each for Eventing.

The host nation (Japan in this instance) also automatically qualifies a team in each discipline. If the host nation does not have enough competitors that have met the MERs, they are permitted up to two individual entries per discipline.

The remainder of the teams qualify primarily through specific competitions, specifically the World Equestrian Games (top six teams) and continental tournaments (top one to two teams per geographical region) and in the case of Eventing and Showjumping, the highest ranked team according to Final Nations Cup Rankings.

Individuals predominantly qualify through the FEI Olympic Rankings. Two to three individual places are allocated per geographical region, with South Africa falling under “Group F”: Africa and the Middle East.

The FEI Olympic Groups are based on the following seven geographical regions:

A – North-Western Europe

B – South-Western Europe

C - Central & Eastern Europe; Central Asia

D – North-America

E - Central & South America

F - Africa & Middle East

G – South-East Asia, Oceania

THE FINAL “ABCS” CHECKLIST

Now that the athlete and horse combination have covered their bases, the National Federation (NF) or National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the athletes need to be on board. In our case, this is the South African Equestrian Federation (SAEF). Firstly, a Certificate of Capability must be submitted before the predetermined deadline. This certificate is a declaration signed by the acting president of the NF, providing athlete and horse details and confirming that they have met the Minimum Eligibility Requirements. The maximum number of athletes an NF can submit per discipline is 12 horse/rider combinations. Where an NF has more than 12 combinations that have met the MERs, a selection process will be undertaken to determine which 12 combinations will be selected for this nominated entry list.

A second responsibility of the National Federation is to ensure acceptance of quota places. If a country qualifies a team, the FEI will contact the NOC to inform them of their allocated quota place, which they must either accept or decline by February of the year in which the Olympics are to be held. Once teams have been confirmed, the FEI will inform the respective NOCs of their allocated individual quota places, which they must either confirm or decline. If a National Federation fails to submit the Certificate of Capability or accept the quota allocation on time, or declines the quota allocation, the FEI will redistribute them according to processes outlined in each discipline's FEI Qualification System publication.

So that is it! As easy as 1, 2, 3, right? Let us know which Olympics you will be attending!