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The Olympics - Equestrianism At The Olympics
The Olympic games are an International event that cover a wide range of different sports, the equestrian sports held at the event are Dressage, Show Jumping and Eventing with both team and individual medals awarded for each discipline.
When Are The Olympics
The Olympic games are held every 4 years with the next games being held in 2012 in London.
Olympic motto : "Citius Altius Fortius" which means faster, higher, stronger.
Olympic rings: designed in 1913, adopted in 1914 and used in the antwerp olympics in 1920
Olympic Equestrian Disciplines - Dressage, Show Jumping and Eventing.
Horse Welfare
- Veterinary inspections take place before the competition begins and also during the games to ensure that all the horses are in excellent condition and are fit and ready to compete.
- All horses must be over the age of seven in order to compete.
- There are strict regulations connected with the use of drugs given to competing horses at the Olympic Games.
The 2012 London Olympic Games
Equestrian Olympic Dates For London 2012
Friday the 27th of July to Sunday 12th of August. The Para olympic games will run from Wednesday the 29th of August
to Sunday the 9th of September
Greenwich Park
The park will be hosting the Equestrian Olympics as well as parts of the Pentathlon. The Park is part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site and covers around 200 acres in all. Greenwich Park is the oldest of the Royal Parks and was a former hunting ground.
- The Main Arena
The Dressage and Show Jumping and will be held in the main arena which will be a temporary structure and will be built on the grounds.
- The Cross Country Course
Preparations are already underway for the cross country course which will run around the beautiful Park and will no doubt be true Olympic test.
Organising The London Games
There are a number of organisations that work to ensure that the Olympic Games are a success.
- British Equestrian Federation - (BEF)
The BEF works closely with the London Organising Committee For The Olympic and Para olympic Games and also with the Federation Equestre International .
- International Federation for Equestrian Sports - (FEI) The FEI was formed in 1921 and is based in Lausanne, Switzerland and is the international governing body for all equestrian sports. The FEI approves all specific Olympic equestrian plans sent to them from the LOCOG and BEF.
- London Organising Committee For The Olympic And Para olympic Games - (LOCOG)
The London Organising Committee works to prepare, organise and stage the Olympic and Para olympic London Games. All the details of the equestrian events are sent to the FEI for final approval.
- International Olympic Committee -(IOC)
The IOC was formed in 1894 and is an organisation of 205 National Olympic Committees. The IOC is based in Lausanne, Switzerland and organises the Olympic Games.
Volunteer Programme
Application forms to help at the games will be available in 2010. Previous volunteering skills are not necessary as full training will be given for more information contact LOCOG.
Travel Information
- Train
Connecting trains to Greenwich Park depart from Cannon Street, Waterloo, London Bridge and Charing Cross and go to Greenwich, Maze Hill and Blackheath, which are all close to the Park.
- Underground
The Jubilee Line to North Greenwich and then take a bus to Greenwich.
- By Car
The A206 is The Greenwich High Road and it leads towards the Queens House entrance.
The A2 Shooters Hill Road will lead you to the Blackheath Gate entrance.
- Riverboat
You can also reach the Park by taking a riverboats to Greenwich Pier from Westminster, Embankment or Tower Piers.
Olympic Games Equestrian History
The Modern Olympic Games first began in 1896 and Equestrianism was first included at the 1900 Olympics which were held in Paris. The equestrian events were slightly different from those seen at today's Olympics, the events held were polo, high jump, long jump and grand prix jumping.
The Equestrian events were not included in either the 1904 or 1908 Olympic Games but thanks to Count Clarance von Rosen of Sweden who was Master of the Horse to the King of Sweden and was also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) proposed the addition of Dressage, Show Jumping and Eventing to the International Olympic Committee. His proposal was accepted and the three disciplines were introduced into the1912 Olympic Games and have been at every Olympics Games since.
Other disciplines to be added were vaulting which was held once at the 1920 games in Antwerp and Polo which was included five times in the 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924 and 1936 Games.
All horses competing at the Olympics must be the same nationality as their riders.
Olympic Show Jumping History
- Show Jumping was included in the 1900 Olympic games in Paris, France with the courses smaller and as technical as they are today.
- Horses were required to carry a weight of 165 pounds.
- Only male cavalry officers were allowed to compete.
- In the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm the course included approximate 15 jumps some of which were jumped more than once.
- The height of the jumps was around 1.4 meters
- The width of the water jump was around 4 meters.
- At the 1924 Games in Antwerp there were 14 obstacles
- The height of the fences was 1.3 to 1.4 meters high.
- The water jump was 4 meters wide.
- The 1932 Olympics consisted of 20 jumping efforts with the height of the course increasing to between 1.4 and 1.6 meters high with the width of the water jump increasing to 5 meters wide.
- By the1952 Helsinki Games men and women civilians were allowed to compete.
- The show jumping height is now 1.6 meters with the width of the fences being a maximum of 2 meters or 2.2 meters for a triple bar. The water jump distance is now a maximum of 4.5 meters.
- The current Olympic format is held over 5 rounds to determine the team and individual medals. There are four riders in each team with the top three scores counting towards the total for each nation. Each riders score is taken and added to their individual score with only the top fifty individuals going forward to Round Three, which is where the team medals are decided. The individual medals are decided in the fifth and final round.
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History Of Equestrianism At The Olympic Games Continued:
- Olympic Dressage History
- 1900's Only male cavalry officers were allowed to compete.
- At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden the Dressage test to be performed did not include any Piaffe or Passage and was held in a 20 x 40 meter arena. The horses had to perform various school movements such as figure of eights, rein back, flying changes and circles.
- As well as completing a dressage test, horse and rider then had to jump a small course of show jumps and then ride around an obedience test.
- By 1920 the dressage test included some collected walk, trot and canter. Extended trot, counter canter and 4, 3, 2 and 1 time tempi changes.
- In 1932 Piaffe and Passage were included in the test.
- By 1936 canter pirouettes and 5 loop serpentines were added to the test.
- At the 1948 Olympics Renvers, half pass, tempi changes and canter pirouettes were included in the test and Piaffe and passage were removed due to the lack of preparation time available before the Olympic games due to world war 2.
- In 1952 men and women civilians were allowed to compete as well as cavalry officers.
- In 1996 the Grand Prix Freestyle was introduced. The freestyle gives the rider the chance to put together their own sequence of set movements and then put them to their own choice of music.
- The format for today's dressage is firstly the Grand Prix Dressage test to decides the team medals. This is then followed by the Grand Prix Special whereby the top 13 competitors go forward to the Grand Prix Freestyle which determines the individual medals.
- Olympic Eventing History
- At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics eventing was first introduced, but it was only open to military personnel.
- The eventing program was held over 5 days.
- The first day was the endurance phase which involved doing 55 km within 4 hours on the roads followed by a 5 km cross country course.
- The horses were given a day off on the second day.
- On the third day a 3.5 km Steeplechase course that comprised of approximately10 fences was undertaken.
- The fourth day was the Jumping Test which involved around 15 jumps of 1.3 meters high.
- The fifth and final day involved a dressage test which was much simpler than that of modern tests today and all the horses were to be ridden in a double bridle.
- At the 1912 Olympics horses also had to carry a minimum weight of 176 pounds, which is approximately 12.5 stone.
- At the 1920 games the Dressage test was completely removed.
- The first day had the endurance test which was reduced from 55 km to 45 km and was to be completed within 3.5 hours and was still followed straight away by the cross country phase that comprised of approximately 18 fences of around 1.10 to 1.15m.
- On the second day competitors had to do a further 20 km roads and tracks which was followed by a 4000 meter steeplechase course. The horses had to pass a vet inspection after the roads and tracks phase in order to continue.
- The show jumping phase consisted of approximately 18 jumps of 1.25 meters high.
- At the 1920 Games Horses were required to carry a weight of 165 pounds, which is approximately 11.7 stone.
- At the 1924 Games in Paris the dressage phase was reintroduced.
- The dressage was held on the first two days due to the number of competitors and the size of the arena was increased to 20 by 60 meters.
- On the third day competitors had to complete 5 phases known as Phases A,B C, D and E also called the long format. Phase A was a 7 km roads and tracks followed by phase B a 4 km steeplechase course then phase C a further 15 km of roads and tracks followed by phase D a 8 km cross country course and finally phase E a 2 km canter.
- The show jumping phase was held on the last day.
- In 1952 at the Helsinki Games, women were allowed to compete in the Equestrian Olympics.
- 1968 Mexico Olympics the 2 km canter after the cross country phase was completely removed.
- The weight that horses were required to carry was reduced to 154 pounds or 11 stone in 1996
- At the 2004 Games in Athens the format for the cross country changed from the long format with phases A,B,C and D being reduced to just phase D the cross country, this format is known as the short format.
Countries that have held Olympic Games
1896 Athens, Greece (no equestrian games)
1900 Paris, France
1904 St. Louis, United States. (no equestrian games)
1908 London, Great Briton. (no equestrian games)
1912 Stockholm, Sweden.
1916 Berlin, Germany. - (Cancelled)
1920 Antwerp, Belgium.
1924 Paris, France.
1928 Amsterdam, Netherlands.
1932 Los Angeles, United States
1936 Berlin, Germany.
1940, Tokyo, Japan. (cancelled)
1944, London, Great Briton. (cancelled).
1948, LOndon, Great Briton.
1952 Helsinki, Finland.
1956 Stockholm, Sweden
1960 Rome, Italy
1964 Tokyo, Japan.
1968 Mexico City, Mexico.
1972 Munich, Germany.
1976 Montreal, Canada.
1980 Lake Placid, United States
1984 Los Angeles, United States
1988 Seoul, South Korea.
1992 Barcelona, Spain.
1996 Atlanta, United States
2000 Sydney, Australia.
2004 Athens, Greece.
2008 Beijing, China
2012 London, Great Britain. |
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