10 August 2000

- Olympic Games: Countdown for horses has started
- Olympic horses fly by jumbo to Sydney
- Vaulting World Championship
- Vaulting Committee meeting
- CHIO Aachen dope testing results
- Website European Junior Jumping and Dressage Championships
- Olympic RendezVous @ Samsung
- N-A Young Riders Championships
- Press News during the Olympic Games

Upon arrival at the PEQ facilities, the horses underwent a health check and their paperwork (e.g. identity verification and vaccination status) was controlled. Naturally the horses are allowed no contact with horses not travelling to Sydney during this period. The PEQ procedure started 16 days prior to the scheduled flights of the horses to Sydney, which will take place from 20 to 24 August and with departures from Frankfurt, Amsterdam, New York, Las Vegas and London. Upon arriving in Australia, there will be a two-week Post-Arrival Quarantine and only when this has been completed, will equines from overseas come into contact with the Australian horses.

Two B747 Lufthansa freight aircrafts making two runs each will transport the Olympic European horses to Sydney and 6 weeks later back to Europe.

The first Jumbo jet will leave Frankfurt on 20 August. After unloading the 50-55 horses in Sydney, it will return to London Stanstead to pick-up another 50-55 horses to leave on 23 August. The second Jumbo will make both its runs from Frankfurt, leaving on 21 and 24 August.

The flying time is 26 hours, including 2 fuel stops in Dubai and Singapore. At each stop, a new crew, including three pilots will take over. In addition to the 50-55 horses, each aircraft will also transport up to 44 persons, including 3-4 veterinarians.

The Sydney Organising Committee (SOCOG) is paying for the air transport, on the basis of triple stalls (three horses per pallet). Since it has been customary also in the charters to the World Cup Finals to have the horses in double stalls (two horses per pallet) it can be expected that most horses will travel in double stalls, with the respective National Olympic Committee (NOC) paying the difference. In a double stall, the width is approx 120 cm, the length of a box 315 cm.

In Frankfurt, a freight warehouse will be emptied on 18 August and stalls will be installed to allow the horses a 24-hour rest before departure. To reduce transport stress during take off and landing, it is foreseen that the plane will take off at an angle of 15 degrees (instead of the usual 35 degrees) and commence the landing phase much earlier than on a normal passenger flight.

The 2000 World Vaulting Championship was held in the Maimarkt arena in Mannheim (GER) from 3 to 6 August 2000. It proved to be the perfect venue for the Championship with many spectators attending each day's competitions contributing towards the wonderful atmosphere, which prevailed throughout the entire event. Approximately 5000 spectators who enthusiastically cheered on and applauded the vaulters attended the final competitions on Sunday, 6 August.

Nadia Zülow (GER) with the horse "Rainbow" won the Individual Female Championship for the third year running. Second place went to Nicola Ströh (GER) while third place was taken by Kerith Lemon of the USA. In the very exciting Individual Male Championship, the gold medal was awarded to Matthias Lang (FRA) vaulting on Farceur Breceen. Silver went to Gero Meyer (GER) and bronze to Devon Maitozo from the USA. The German team won the gold medal in the team championships followed by Switzerland and Austria.

The Vaulting Committee met on 30 and 31 July 2000 in Mannheim (GER) just prior to the World Vaulting Championships. Two new members, Mr Jean Michel Pinel (FRA) and Mrs Fernanda Shaw (ARG), were welcomed to the Committee. The members discussed many different issues of interest and importance to the Vaulting discipline, including the following items:

A judge's course will be held in Budapest (HUN) from 20 to 21 October 2000 and will focus on the Vaulting Rules Revision (effective 1 January 2001) and the revised Guidelines for Judges;

The Committee agreed that the Qualification Criteria which shall apply for the European Championship 2001 and the World Championship 2002 should remain unchanged from those required for the World Championship 2000 i.e. an average score of at least 6.0 points (final result in one round) reached at at least two CVIs** in Europe (one CVI*/** outside Europe);

Mr Gerhard Spitzer, representative of the International Vaulting Club (IVC), attended part of the meeting and addressed the Committee Members on the activities and concerns of the IVC. A fruitful discussion was held which bodes well for the future.

The lab test results for riders tested prior to the CHIO Aachen were all negative in accordance with the FEI/IOC out-of-competition Anti-Doping testing procedure.

32 Jumping riders and 18 Dressage riders were tested over two days (10 and 11 July) I n the frame of the anti-doping program set up by the FEI together with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The substances, which are prohibited for out-of-competition are: Anabolic Agents, Diuretics, Peptide Hormones, Mimetics, Analogues and prohibited Methods (blood doping; administering artificial oxygen carriers or plasma expanders; pharmacological, chemical and physical manipulation). (see FEI Press News 21 published on 13 July)

www.k-lipica.si

European Jumping Championship in Hortobagy (HUN) from 16-20 August

www.epona.hu

As a worldwide partner of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Samsung is building a private hospitality centre for the competing athletes and their guests in Sydney Olympic Park, close to the Athletes Village.

The Olympic RendezVous @ Samsung is a 4000 sqm pavilion offering different activities and service such as free phone calls to anywhere in the world, access to internet, live TV from all competition venues, complimentary food and beverages and above all privacy for athletes and their friends and families. The Pavilion will be open from 15 September to 1 October.

Registration forms are available from the respective National Olympic Committees and from the FEI Secretariat. For enquiries: tel. 61 2 9335 51 21

Jumping

The team championship was decided by just 4 1/4 faults, with British Columbia scoring 30.25 faults to triumph over U.S. Zone 10 who took the Silver Medal with 35.50 faults. Ontario earned the Bronze Medal with 41.50 faults.

The individual Gold Medal was awarded to Lindsay McLean, 18, of White Rock, British Columbia. McLean and her horse, Caldero, were also members of the Gold Medal Team. Ricardo Nizri of the Mexico North team and his horse, Inocente, galloped home with the individual Silver Medal. Jennifer Williams of Oakland, CA and her mare, Mariska, won the Bronze Medal.

Dressage

Louise Labrucherie, 21, of Santa Rosa, CA made history by winning her third individual Gold Medal. Scoring 68.55% in the Prix St. Georges Freestyle, Labrucherie, on Picone, left no doubt that she would again be victorious.

The U.S. Region 3 team (Florida), took the team Gold Medal with a combined score of 3836. Individual Gold Medalist Louise Labrucherie of Santa Rosa, CA led the U.S. Region 7 team to the Silver Medal. The 1998 and 1998 Silver Medal team, U.S. Region 2, finished in third earning the team Bronze Medal.

Eventing

U.S. Area 2 staged a stunning sweep of the team and individual medals in the Eventing Championship. After years of pursuing the dream, Sara Kozumplik of Middleburg, VA with What You Will, Holly Payne of Oldwick, NJ with The Federalist, Sean Brescia of The Plains, VA with Von Otto, and Mary Grantham of Charlottesville, VA with Ides of March, finally accomplished their Gold Medal goal.

Sara Kozumplik, 21, also captured the individual Gold Medal with 63.6 penalty points. Taking the Silver Medal in the individual CCI-YR** championship was Brescia with 68.2 points, while Payne brought home the Bronze with 73.8. Grantham was fourth individually.

The team Silver Medal went to U.S. Area 3 and the Bronze was awarded to the combined U.S. Areas 6/9/2 team.

Young riders, age 16-21, from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean Islands gathered together in High Prairie Farms Equestrian Center for the 2000 North American Young Riders Championships. Riders compete in the three Olympic equestrian disciplines of Show Jumping, Dressage, and Eventing.

The NAYRC began in 1974 as an eventing challenge between the United States and Canada. A Dressage Championship was added in 1981, and Show Jumping debuted in 1982. The first complete NAYRC was held in British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The 1998 NAYRC was hosted by High Prairie Farms Equestrian Center, while Tempel Farms in Wadsworth, Illinois was the site of the 1994-1997 and 1999 NAYRC.

More info and complete results on www.youngriders.org

The FEI will publish daily news from Sydney. The news will be posted on the FEI website www.horsesport.org, on the SOCOG website www.olympics.com and sent by e-mail to the FEI media list. It is not confirmed yet that we will be able to send the news by fax.

IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY RECEIVING THE FEI PRESS NEWS BY FAX ONLY, WE KINDLY ADVISE YOU TO COMMUNICATE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS TO THE FEI COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT TO MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE DAILY UPDATE FROM SYDNEY.

DEADLINE: 5 SEPTEMBER 2000

Thank you!