Six nations make Olympic and Paralympic débuts at Rio 2016 equestrian events

A total of six nations will be making their Olympic and Paralympic debuts at Rio 2016 when they field athletes for the equestrian disciplines of Jumping, Dressage, Eventing and Para-Equestrian Dressage.

Five National Olympic Committees will be sending equestrian athletes to an Olympic Games for the first time at Rio in August - Chinese Taipei and Qatar for Jumping, the Dominican Republic and Palestine for Dressage, and Zimbabwe for Eventing, while Uruguay will be sending its first Para-Equestrian Dressage athlete to the Paralympics.

Rio 2016 is the first Olympic and Paralympic Games ever to be held in South America and a total of nine South American countries will compete in equestrian at Rio 2016, with Peru securing its first individual qualification in Jumping.

A total of 43 nations have earned qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games across the three disciplines of Eventing, Dressage and Jumping, with 30 countries targeting the equestrian medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, where Para-Equestrian Dressage will celebrate 20 years in the Paralympic Movement.

“We are thrilled to be welcoming new nations to the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian family and to have 43 flags at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and 30 for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games”, FEI President Ingmar De Vos said.

“It’s a testament to the increasing global appeal and universality of our sport to see equestrianism represented at the top level in so many countries. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the pinnacle of our sport and we are looking forward to absolutely top class equestrian action during both Games.”

The Olympic equestrian events get underway the day after the Opening Ceremony in Rio on 6 August 2016 in Deodoro, where the world’s best athletes will compete for team and individual medals in Eventing, Dressage and Jumping.

The Rio 2016 Para-Equestrian Dressage action kicks off on 11 September for what promises to be the largest celebration yet of high-performance sport for people with an impairment, where athletes will target individual medals across grades Ia, Ib, II, III and IV, as well as team medals.

The full list of qualified Olympic nations is here and Paralympic nations here, with summaries on the Olympic and Paralympic qualified nations below:

Olympic summary

Jumping - maximum 75 starters

27 nations: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela.

15 teams: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States.

12 nations represented by individuals only: Belgium, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Egypt, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Peru, Portugal, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Dressage - maximum 60 starters

25 nations: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Ukraine, United States.

11 teams: Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United States.

14 nations represented by individuals only: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Palestine, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine.

Eventing - maximum 65 starters

24 nations: Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, Zimbabwe.

14 teams: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, United States.

10 nations represented by individuals only: Belarus, Belgium, Chile, China, Ecuador, Finland, Japan, Puerto Rico, Spain, Zimbabwe.

Nations fielding full teams in all three Olympic disciplines: Australia, Brazil, France, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and the United States will field full teams in all three Olympic disciplines.

Total - 43 nations:

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Palestine, Peru, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

All documents on the Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification process are here.

Paralympic summary

Para-Equestrian Dressage - maximum 78 starters

30 nations: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, USA.

14 teams: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, USA.

2 nations can field composite teams: France (4 individual slots) and Russia (3 individual slots).

15 nations represented by individuals only: Argentina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay.  

All documents on the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification process can be accessed here.

Photo Caption: Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, where equestrian sport celebrates 104 years in the Olympic Movement and 20 in the Paralympic Movement. (FEI) 

FEI Photo Catalogue: Free images for editorial purposes are available for download at www.feiphotos.org.

Notes to Editors

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.