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FEDERATION EQUESTRE INTERNATIONALE
- World Endurance Championship in Compiegne
- Endurance Committee meeting
- World Driving Four-in-Hand Championship
- Driving Forum: report of the Think-Tank Group
- Spruce Meadows: last chance to qualify for the Samsung Nations Cup
Final
- In memoriam: Dick Stillwell
- Sydney Olympic competitions programme
- FEI press news from Sydney
WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP IN COMPIEGNE
The FEI World Endurance Championships held in Compiègne (FRA) on
Saturday 26th August proved to be a great result for both the home
riders and the global nature of the sport.
With four riders in the best five, the host nation dominated the ride;
France took Gold, Silver and Bronze in the Individual competition.
Australia took Team Gold ahead of Great Britain and Sweden. 142 riders
from 36 countries took part, which once again shows how popular the
sport has become. This was reinforced by the huge crowds that turned up
at 5.30 in the morning to watch the start at the beautiful Compiègne
racecourse and by the 14 TV crews that filmed the event.
More info on the official site of the championship
www.compiegne-2000.com
ENDURANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
The FEI Endurance Committee held its second meeting of the year ON 23
August 2000, prior to the World Endurance Championships in Compiègne
(FRA). The major decision was the establishment of a star system of
CEIs. The new system will categorise each CEI according to distance as
well as the vetting parameters such as heart rates and time to present.
This will lead to a more rigorous qualification procedure than in the
past. The full details of these changes will be presented to the FEI
Bureau in November for approval by the General Assembly in April 2001.
It was also decided that the 2002 World Endurance Championships during
the Jerez World Equestrian Games would be over 160 km in one day and
that the Continental Championships in 2003 would be two ride with100 km
each day (200 km).
A SUCCESSFUL WORLD DRIVING FOUR-IN-HAND CHAMPIONSHIP
Fifty-one drivers from 16 nations (13 with teams) competed in the 15th
Four-in-Hand World Driving Championship, held from 24 - 27 August in the
Volkswagen city of Wolfsburg. The Championship was competently and
beautifully organised by Günther Graf von der Schulenburg and his
Committee. The event was blessed with extraordinary good weather in an
otherwise rainy summer.
Dressage and Obstacle Driving competitions were held in the park of
Wolfsburg castle, while for the marathon the carriages moved to the
village of Nordsteimke, some 5 km away. Wolfgang Asendorf (GER) did an
excellent job as Course Designer.
This 15th Championship confirmed the dominance of the leading driving
nations and also the strength of the top Four-in-Hand competitors. The
only new-comer in the Top Ten was the young German, Ludwig Weinmayr who
finished sixth individually and earned a bronze medal with the German
team. Tucker Johnson (USA) who, in his first World Championship two
years previously in Rome finished fifth, confirmed his place on the team
by finishing seventh.
The Individual World title went to Tomas Erkisson (SWE) who repeated his
win of 1990. In his last six World Championships Thomas, whose brother
show jumps successfully for Sweden, finished 1-6-6-4-8-1. Equally
impressive is the record of the runner-up in Wolfsburg, Ijsbrand Chardon
(NED). In nine World Championships he has been eight times in the top
five, earning two Individual Gold, two Silver and two Bronze medals.
Individual Bronze went to the World Champion of 1996, Felix Brasseur
(BEL), in front of the World Champion of 1994, Michael Freund (GER). For
the first time both Portugal & Liechtenstein were represented by one
participant each.
Sweden, with Tomas Eriksson, Nicke Pahlsson and Fredrik Persson won the
Team Gold and was followed by the Netherlands in second place and
Germany in third.
DRIVING FORUM: REPORT OF THE THINK-TANK COMMITTEE
The report by the Ad Hoc Driving Think Tank Group was the main feature
of the Driving forum, held during the 15th Four-in-Hand World
Championship in Wolfsburg (GER).
This Ad Hoc Committee was established following the 1999 Driving forum
in Kecskemet (HUN) to evaluate the Driving sport from a larger and
outside perspective: to look at the sport as a whole; to formulate the
ideal Driving event - appealing to spectators, interesting to a
TV-audience, attractive to sponsors, while remaining horse-friendly and
technically feasible.
The Ad Hoc Committee consisted of Max E. Ammann (SUI) Chairman, Michael
Freund (GER) as active driver, Peter Hofmann (GER) as organiser, Ulf
Bergqvist (SWE) with his sponsorship knowledge and Hakan Leeman (SWE) as
marketing specialist. The report was presented to an audience of 70 at
the forum on 22 August.
A strong emphasis was placed on safety by the Committee, especially in
the marathon obstacles. A 1:2 size model of a moveable safety gate was
demonstrated by its developer, Fritz Gerber (SUI), him-self an active
pairs driver.
The report of the Ad Hoc Think Tank Group explained the historical
background of FEI Driving and undertook to present a critical review of
the sport over the past 30 years as an FEI discipline. Its
recommendations consisted of:
- creation of a new format for Championships,
- an increased importance for the Four-in-Hand Top Driver Award,
- a proposal for an Indoor World Cup series for Four-in-Hand teams.
- The proposal for the new Championship format has the following
features:
- reduction of the duration of the Dressage competition from two to one
day - 4 carriages at the same time in the arena, to perform on command,
- abolishing sections A-B-C-D in the Marathon, as well as placing
greater emphasis on safety and accuracy in section E by giving penalties
for any gate touched,
- dividing the obstacle competition into two competitions: a relay to
decide team medals with the groom of the first carriage serving as
"baton" and a seperate obstacle competition involving the top 10-15
competiters to decide the individual medals.
- In general the Committee placed emphasis on more transparency in
scoring, proposing a positive (time) factor throughout the 3-day
competition.
- There would only be a Top Driver award for Four-in-Hand Drivers, based
on the results at the Summer CAIs. This annual Top Driver standings
would serve as qualification for the proposed indoor World Cup for
Four-in-Hand carriages. The top twelve in the final Top Driver Award
standings qualify for the Indoor World Cup series. This series would
consist of 8 indoor events. Each of the 12 qualified drivers could
compete in half of the competitions equaling 6 competitions per World
Cup competition. Each World Cup event would additionally be allowed to
have two wild cards, thereby, creating a starting field of eight
participants.
The proposal by the Ad Hoc Think Tank Group was received at the forum
with mixed feelings and was applauded for its comprehensiveness, but
criticised for being too far reaching and endangering the values of the
Driving sport.
The full report can be found on FEI website (ref: working docs).
SPRUCE MEADOWS: LAST CHANCE TO QUALIFY FOR THE SNC FINAL
The very last Samsung Nations Cup of the season, before the Samsung
Nations Cup World Final in Rome on the 14th October, is coming up
shortly. On Sunday the 9th September it is time for the "semi-final" of
the Samsung Nations Cup Series that will take place on the grounds of
Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Canada.
The unbeatable Irish has had a tremendous season and managed to win 9 of
the 13 Samsung Nations Cup events that they have taken part in. This is
an incredible achievement, which no country has ever done before in the
Nations Cup history. Ireland is therefore the winner of the Samsung
Nations Cup Series 2000, over 20 points ahead of Germany that are in
second place in the overall rankings, at this date, with a total of 53
points.
At the Samsung Nations Cup "semi-final" the big battle will be between
Switzerland (41p), Holland (42p) and Great Britain (45p), who are
fighting it out to be among the six best in order to qualify for the
Samsung Nations Cup World Final. They have all sent very strong teams
that will ensure that it will be a very exciting competition in Calgary.
Eight teams in total are invited to the Samsung Nations Cup World Final,
the top 6 in the point standings of the regular season and 2 wild cards,
presumably the Italian, as the hosting nation, and the American team.
The Nations Cup Committee will announce the final decision after the
"semi-final" in Calgary. In the Samsung Nations Cup World Final, all the
teams start from scratch.
There are 7 teams competing in Calgary:
Canada - Ian Millar, Amy Millar, Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze;
Great Britain - Tim Stockdale, Michael Whitaker, Robert Smith, Di
Lampard;
Netherlands - Jos Lansink, Angelique Hoorn, Marc Houtzager, Emile
Hendrix;
U.S.A. - Elise Haas, Francie Steinwedell-Carvin, Norman Dello Joio,
Nicole Shahinian-Simpson;
Germany - Ludger Beerbaum, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Soren von Ronne,
Rene Tebbel;
Switzerland - Markus Fuchs, Urs Fah, Paul Freimuller, Dehlia Oeuvray;
Ireland - Billy Twomey, Jessica Kurten, Kevin Babington, Peter Charles
Visit: www.sprucemeadows.com
And http://sports.samsung.com/samsungnationscup
IN MEMORIAM
Dick Stillwell (GBR), a very influential trainer in both Jumping and
Eventing, died on 25 July 2000 aged 79. Among his students were Richard
Meade, Jane Holderness-Roddam, Mary Gordon-Watson and Tiny Clapham, all
Olympic medal winners.
SYDNEY OLYMPICS: TIMES SCHEDULE OF THE EQUESTRIAN COMPETITONS
Date Time Competition
15th September 11:00 - 13:30 Three Day Event Team Competition (Horse
Inspection)
16th September 09:30 - 16:00 Three Day Event Team Competition (dressage)
17th September 09:30 - 16:00 Three Day Event Team Competition (dressage)
18th September 09:30 - 16:00 Three Day Event Team Competition
(cross-country)
19th September 11:00 - 15:30 Three Day Event Team Competition (show
jumping)*
16:30 -17:30 Three Day Event Individual Competition (Horse
Inspection)
20th September 08:30 - 16:15 Three Day Event Individual Competition
(dressage)
21st September 10:00 - 14:30 Three Day Event Individual Competition
(cross-country)
22nd September 08:30 - 09:30 Three Day Event Individual Competition
(show jumping)*
25th September 10:30 - 16:00 Show Jumping (1st qualifier)
26th September 10:00 - 16:15 Dressage Team Competition (Grand Prix 1st
part)
27th September 10:00 - 17:00 Dressage Team Competition (Grand Prix 2nd
part)*
28th September 08:30 - 18:15 Show Jumping Team Competition*
29th September 10:00 - 16:15 Dressage (Grand Prix Special)
30th September 11:00 - 15:30 Dressage (Grand Prix Freestyle)*
1st October 11:00 - 15:30 Show Jumping Individual Final*
* denotes medals award
BARBADOS RIDER INVITED TO OLYMPIC YOUTH CAMP
The Sydney Organising Committee is hosting an Olympic Youth Camps from
12 September to 4 October, which will bring together 400 young between
16 and 18 years old sportsmen, and women from around the globe. The
Barbados Equestrian Federation just informed us that among the two
Barbados participants Gavin Parravicino, who competes both in Dressage
and show jumping, will proudly represent their country.
FEI PRESS NEWS FROM SYDNEY
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
DURING THE GAMES, FEI PRESS NEWS WILL BE SENT BY E-MAIL EXCLUSIVELY
Muriel Faienza
FEI Communications
Federation Equestre Internationale
PO. Box 157, 1000 Lausanne 5
Switzerland
++ 41 (21) 310 47 47
++ 41 (21) 310 47 60
m.faienza@horsesport.org
http://www.horsesport.org
