Eventing at Tokyo 2020

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

We’re about a year out, and the test event is about to get underway so seems like time to start a thread.

Eventing competition dates:
Dressage - July 31 and August 1 (three sessions, two on 7/31 and one on 8/1)
Cross country - August 2
Stadium jumping - August 3

Tokyo, Japan is 13 hours ahead of New York, NY
1:29 PM Wednesday, in New York, NY is 2:29 AM Thursday, in Tokyo, Japan

There are 65 slots available for competitiors, 45 allocated to 15 teams of three and 20 to individuals.

As of August 5 2019, twelve team slots have been allocated:
Japan (host nation)
Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand (qualified at WEG 2018)
Poland (qualified at Group C qualification event, May 2019)
United States, Brazil (qualified at 2019 PanAm games, Groups D and E)
China, Thailand (qualified at Groups F/G qualification event May 2019)

Three team slots still up for grabs:
2 to be allocated at 2019 Europeans (Groups A and B)
1 to be allocated based on 2019 Nations Cup results

For the 20 individual slots, 2 slots will be allocated to each of the seven geographic groups based on rider rankings. The final six slots will go to at large individuals based on the same rider rankings with no more than two to any one nation.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

Link to FEI document outlining qualification process:
https://inside.fei.org/system/files/Tokyo%202020%20-%20Qualification%20System%20-%20EVENTING%20-%2005Aug2019.pdf

Link to FEI Olympic rankings:
https://data.fei.org/Ranking/OGRankingsList.aspx
(last updated through 7/31/19 so PanAm results not included.

Fun fact:
Only three NOCs currently have qualified for Tokyo in all three equestrian disciplines: Australia, Germany, and the US of A.

Another fun fact:
Geo group F (Africa and Middle East) does not have ANY individually ranked riders as of 7/31. Group G (SE Asia and Oceania) only has two after excluding riders from already qualified nations.

[Jealoushe]

2 or 3 spots will be filled this weekend after the Europeans, so lots to play for there also.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

The test event “Ready Steady Tokyo” is underway now. Nations participating include Japan (duh), Great Britain (WFP and Georgie Spence), Germany (Jung is there!), and Andrew Hoy from Australia. I am seeing some pics on FB via Equestrian Team GBR and Jackie Potts Equestrian Services.

[Jealoushe]

The facilties look absolutely fabulous.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

It also sounds hot - very hot.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

Michael Jung won! Japanese riders 2nd and 3rd. Some interesting cross country pictures on various Facebook pages - London-esque with city skyline/sights in the background.

[Texarkana]

How common is it for facilities to be ready for use a year in advance? This is the first I recall ever hearing about a country being prepared enough to do a “test run” so far out before the event! Maybe I just haven’t been paying enough attention…

[brown_pony]

I think it’s pretty standard. The test event for London was in July 2011.

[Larksmom]

where can I find any photos? EN has been following the event, but photos are scarce.

[Jealoushe]

@Larksmom

where can I find any photos? EN has been following the event, but photos are scarce.

on Facebook, “Equestrian Team GBR” page was sharing tones of pics. Also search Connie Bookless.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

@Larksmom

where can I find any photos? EN has been following the event, but photos are scarce.

Also on Facebook “Jackie Potts Equestrian Services” - she has been associated with Williams Fox-Pitt and now grooms for Kazuma Tomoto from Japan who trains with WFP.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

Team qualification update:

With the Nations Cup series finale this weekend, Switzerland secured the final team slot for Tokyo.

Sweden and Italy qualified via the Europeans at the end of August.

All team spots are allocated at this point, but if I understand correctly, some of the teams (Poland, China, Thailand) may not yet have three qualified rider/horse pairs.

Teams we would usually expect to see who are not qualified for team spots: Belgium, Netherlands, Canada.

[OverandOnward]

@Texarkana

How common is it for facilities to be ready for use a year in advance? This is the first I recall ever hearing about a country being prepared enough to do a “test run” so far out before the event! Maybe I just haven’t been paying enough attention…

As said above, this is always done. There is usually some subdued media coverage, but I don’t think photos are allowed to be published.

Running a cross-country course for the first time ever at the Olympics is a terrible idea with a risk sport that has so many random factors from being out in the country. The management needs to see how it works out in real use. And I think they also want to get a feel for the facilities such as the stabling, groom’s quarters, etc., to find critical flaws ahead of time.

I don’t think they use the exact same course used at the test event at the Olympics itself. And I’m not sure if anyone who rides in the test event is eligible for the Olympics. I’m not clear on how much exposure potential Olympic riders have to the test event. At Rio the riders seemed rather taken aback by the course, which was not what they expected, and none of them seemed to have had an early heads-up. Using a course new to all riders puts them on equal footing that isn’t possible at facilities that host annual events.

[Blugal]

@OverandOnward

As said above, this is always done. There is usually some subdued media coverage, but I don’t think photos are allowed to be published.

Running a cross-country course for the first time ever at the Olympics is a terrible idea with a risk sport that has so many random factors from being out in the country. The management needs to see how it works out in real use. And I think they also want to get a feel for the facilities such as the stabling, groom’s quarters, etc., to find critical flaws ahead of time.

I don’t think they use the exact same course used at the test event at the Olympics itself. And I’m not sure if anyone who rides in the test event is eligible for the Olympics. I’m not clear on how much exposure potential Olympic riders have to the test event. At Rio the riders seemed rather taken aback by the course, which was not what they expected, and none of them seemed to have had an early heads-up. Using a course new to all riders puts them on equal footing that isn’t possible at facilities that host annual events.

The test event is held at Intermediate FEI level. This year was CCI3*-S. So the jumps and course are entirely different for the Olympic event. Therefore the riders absolutely can compete in both.

Here are the results of this year’s test event which had 16 riders from four countries: https://readysteady.tokyo2020.org/en/news/detail/ready-steady-tokyo-equestrian-result/

[Jealoushe]

I can’t believe Canada won’t have a team. Gutted.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

@Jealoushe

I can’t believe Canada won’t have a team. Gutted.

If I am understanding all this correctly, Canada has a slim shot at a composite team as of now. They are the only country with riders listed in Group D so should get both of those slots. If they could get a rider into the top 6 on the “All others” list, they would have a team.

FEI rider rankings through 9/30:
https://data.fei.org/Ranking/OGRankingsList.aspx

Off to try to understand what happens if any of the qualified teams doesn’t have three riders to send as of the end of qualifying.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

My understanding of a composite team was not quite correct (shocking). If I am reading correctly, nations that are qualified as of now must either withdraw or complete a Certificate of Capability by the end of the year. If any aren’t capable of filling a team, in February, the FEI will name composite teams based on the following:

Composite Team: A three (3) member team from an NOC. The Composite Team will be selected according to the following process:

the respective rankings of each NOC’s top three (3) different athletes in the FEI Olympic Ranking – Eventing shall be added together to give an aggregate ranking;

the NOC with the best aggregate ranking shall be awarded the redistributed quota place;

in the event of a tie (i.e. where the aggregate rankings are the same), the redistributed quota place shall be awarded to the NOC with the highest ranked athlete on the FEI Olympic Ranking - Eventing. In the event of a further tie, the redistributed quota place shall be awarded to the NOC with the second highest ranked athlete on the FEI Olympic Ranking - Eventing, and so on. If the tie cannot be broken following this process, the FEI will invite the NOCs/NFs concerned to a draw.

Here’s the link to the document which was actually updated yesterday to reflect Switzerland qualifying.
https://inside.fei.org/system/files/…014Oct2019.pdf

Without running the numbers and just eyeballing the list of all athletes from non-qualified nations, it looks to me like right now the Netherlands, Russia, and Belarus would be the top 3 candidates for composite teams with Canada maybe fourth.

[RainWeasley]

@Jealoushe

I can’t believe Canada won’t have a team. Gutted.

So they won’t get to have one at all? That’s insane. Do they at least get to send individuals? I don’t really get why only a certain number of countries can compete to begin with, I guess time limits or something but it just seems weird to me.

[Jealoushe]

@RainWeasley

So they won’t get to have one at all? That’s insane. Do they at least get to send individuals? I don’t really get why only a certain number of countries can compete to begin with, I guess time limits or something but it just seems weird to me.

I believe they can send an individual if they are ranked high enough. So for the countries without teams, like Canada, and Netherlands, the top however many will be sent as individuals. The problem is, the Canadians won’t have a chance to get those points to bump them up. They just don’t have the depth. The only one who maybe can is JP with all her rides, so she will have to enter as many FEI events as she can between here and then and hope to rise up the placings but I don’t see that happening.