Australia continued its eventing glory with medals in Mexico City 1968 (team bronze), Montreal 1976 (team bronze), Barcelona 1992 (individual and team golds), Atlanta 1996 (team gold), Sydney 2000 (team gold) and finally silver in Beijing 2008. The Beijing Olympic eventing team comprised of Megan Jones, Clayton Fredericks, Sonja Johnson, Lucinda Fredericks and Shane Rose. The silver medallists were all first-time Olympians. With many of the team still competing and Sydney 2000 gold medallist Stuart Tinney also in the mix, Australia holds strong hopes for the tradition of medals in eventing to continue in 2012.
EVENTING FORMAT
The Eventing competition takes places over four days. As with all three equestrian disciplines on the Olympic program, the competition features both Individual and Team events, and men and women compete against each other on equal terms. Dressage fills the first two days of the Eventing competition. Each horse and rider performs a dressage test in front of a panel of judges. The judges’ scores are converted into penalty points, which are carried forward to the next stage of the competition.
Day 3 is given over to the cross-country test containing up to 45 jumps. Every horse/rider combination is given penalty points for jumping errors and time penalties, which are added to any penalty points awarded during the dressage test to give a total score.
Day 4 is the jumping tests with riders and horses given penalty points for jumping errors and time penalties, which are added to their previous dressage and cross-country scores to determine the overall rankings. The first jumping test will decide the placings in the Team event; after this has been completed, there’s a second jumping test to determine the medal placegetters of the Individual competition.
QUALIFICATION AND SELECTION
Australia failed to qualify a team directly through the regional qualifier held in Blenheim (UK) in 2011 but in March 2012 secured a berth based on individual global rankings to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Selection is based on athlete and horse performances at major 3 or 4 star events (the highest level of competition in Eventing) both in Australia and overseas.
For all the Nomination and Selection documentation click here>>>
AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC HISTORY
The Roycroft family are synonymous with equestrian in Australia with Bill competing in five Olympics and three of his sons, Wayne, Barry and Clarke, and Wayne’s wife Vicki, all being Olympians also. Bill carried the Australian Flag in the Opening Ceremony in Mexico City and Wayne did likewise in Los Angeles in 1984.
To read more about Australia’s Olympic equestrian history click here>>>