Equestrian sport joins one-year countdown to Rio 2016 celebrations

FEI PRESS RELEASE           

Lausanne (SUI), 5 August 2015

Today marks the one-year countdown to the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where equestrian sport will celebrate 104 years in the Olympic movement at the first Games to be held in South America.

The world’s best horses and riders will compete for medals in the Olympic disciplines of Eventing, Dressage and Jumping over 12 days of intense competition at the Olympic Equestrian Centre at Deodoro.

The Rio 2016 Olympic equestrian action gets underway the day after the Opening Ceremony on 5 August. As always, Eventing opens the Olympic equestrian sport, and it is Eventing that features in the Aquece Rio (“Warm Up Rio”) test event, which starts tomorrow.

While this week’s test event is limited to Brazilian horses, a total of 200 equestrian athletes will join 10,300 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which run from 5-21 August with 19 days of world-class sport.

“The world’s biggest sporting event is now just a year away,” FEI Director, Eventing & Olympic, Catrin Norinder said. “Our venue at Deodoro is absolutely stunning and we’re all set for this week’s test event, now that we’ve marked the one-year countdown to the Games. We’re all really looking forward to seeing equestrian sport, one of the only Olympic sports in which men and women compete against each other and which involves two athletes, the horse and the rider, at Rio 2016. The road to Rio is now a major focus in our sport, with qualifying events ongoing around the world.”

Rio-bound

Ten nations have so far qualified Jumping teams for Rio, with six nations through for Dressage. The next major opportunity for European nations to qualify for the Jumping and Dressage at Rio 2016 will be the FEI European Championships at Aachen (GER), which starts in just six days (11 August).

Eight nations have already booked their team Eventing slots for Rio, and all eyes are next on the Longines FEI European Eventing Championships at Blair Castle on 10-13 September. This event, which takes place in the grounds of Scotland’s most-visited castle, forms part of UK Sport’s £40 million National Lottery funded events programme, which is helping to build a strong legacy from the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

#1yeartogo #Rio2016

“Rio de Janeiro will be the focus of the sporting world’s attention next year, when it becomes the first South American city to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” FEI President Ingmar De Vos said.

“Staged in one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, the Games are going to be really spectacular. Rio will be making full use of its world-famous landmarks, just as London did, and equestrian sport will be rubbing shoulders with other exciting sports at Deodoro, including basketball, fencing, hockey, mountain biking, BMX, canoe slalom and rugby sevens.

“We are experiencing massive growth in equestrian sport around the world, and Rio will be our perfect platform, putting equestrian in the limelight at the greatest sporting event on the planet.”

Share Equestrian’s 1 Year To Go video: “365 Days ‘Til Heros Are Made”: https://goo.gl/0H6Sti

#1yeartogo #Rio2016 #Falta1ano @myfei_home @olympics English: @Rio2016_en Português:‪@rio2016. Español: ‪@rio2016_es

Photo caption: The Rio 2016 Olympic equestrian action gets underway on 6 August 2016. As always, Eventing will open the Olympic equestrian sports, and the Cross Country phase will be a huge attraction in the Deodoro Olympic Park venue with a course featuring stunning water jumps. (Gustavo Nascimento)

FEI Photo Catalogue: free images for editorial purposes are available for download at http://goo.gl/RRPrbA with password FEI2016

Notes to editor

Equestrian at Deodoro Olympic Park

The Deodoro Olympic Park is the second largest Rio 2016 Games cluster. Deodoro’s nine venues will host the Olympic sports of basketball, BMX, canoe slalom, fencing, hockey, modern pentathlon, mountain biking, rugby sevens, shooting and the Paralympic sports of wheelchair fencing, Football 7-a-side and shooting alongside Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, and Para-Equestrian Dressage: www.rio2016.org/en/the-games/map-of-the-venues-0

Rio 2016 Olympic Games - qualified nations

Brazil, as host nation, earns automatic team qualification for Rio 2016. Full details on qualified nations will be updated at http://fei.org/fei/games/olympic/rio-2016 (see “Qualification System” link per discipline). The following nations have so far qualified team spots for Rio 2016:

• Jumping: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Ukraine, USA, Qatar
• Dressage: Australia, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, USA
• Eventing: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, USA

The remaining equestrian team places at Rio 2016 will be decided at continental qualifiers, while individual places will be decided according to world rankings. All athletes competing at the Games must obtain the minimum eligibility requirements.

Rio 2016 useful links

• www.rio2016.com/en/the-games/olympic
• https://twitter.com/rio2016_en
• www.facebook.com/rio2016
• www.youtube.com/rio2016
• https://instagram.com/rio2016

Share images, video, experiences using hashtags #1yeartogo & #Rio2016

Rio 2016 Organising Committee is also making images, video, athlete quotes and news available on www.rio2016.com/en and Rio 2016 social media channels. Images of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee programmes and events can also be accessed through the dedicated press room: http://goo.gl/y7dDZs and videos of the Rio 2016 venues and transformations taking place across the city can be found on the Rio City Hall ´Cidade Olimpica´ website: www.cidadeolimpica.com.br/en

About Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) www.fei.org

The FEI is the world governing body for horse sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and was founded in 1921. Equestrian sport has been part of the Olympic movement since the 1912 Games in Stockholm. The FEI is the sole controlling authority for all international events in the Olympic sports of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing, as well as Driving, Endurance, Vaulting and Reining. The FEI became one of the first international sports governing bodies to govern and regulate global para sport alongside its seven able-bodied disciplines when Para-Equestrian Dressage joined its ranks in 2006. The FEI now governs all international competitions for Para-Equestrian Dressage and Para-Driving.