Road to 2024 Paris Olympics

Austria, Spain, and Switzerland Secure Olympic Qualifications

As the 2024 Paris Olympics are on the horizon. Let’s delve into a detailed analysis of the teams in the Show Jumping discipline that have already secured their places and those that battled for Olympic qualification at the 2023 European Championships held in Milan.

Sweden, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany had previously earned their spots during the 2022 FEI Jumping World Championship in Herning. Belgium joined the ranks, clinching the sole available position in the thrilling final of the 2022 FEI Jumping Nations Cup in Barcelona. Meanwhile, Poland secured its qualification through Group C of the FEI 2023 Olympic Qualification event. Lastly, France secured its place as the host nation.

For six teams, the 2023 Milan European Championships were a crucial opportunity to secure a spot at the Olympics, as three slots for Paris were up for grabs. Austria, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland converged at the Ippodromo SNAI San Siro, all vying to achieve this significant goal.

In the recent team final, Austria managed to secure an unexpected bronze medal with a score of 22.77, becoming the first team to earn a golden ticket to the Olympic Games. Spain, led by Armando Trapote on Tornado VS and Manuel Fernandez Saro on Jarlin de Torres, turned the tide in their favor, ultimately finishing fifth with a total score of 25.59, securing the second spot for next year’s Olympics. Switzerland, on the other hand, clinched the third and final spot in Milan in 2023 by finishing in sixth place with 25.92 points.

Italy, however, experienced a bitter ending at the Milan Europeans. Despite hopeful prospects in the initial days, their team’s performance in the final left much to be desired. Emanuele Gaudiano‘s elimination, along with penalties for Alberto Zorzi, Emanuele Camilli, and Giampiero Garofalo, resulted in a performance well below their anticipated standards.

Nonetheless, Italian hopes for Olympic qualification remain alive. Italy has one last opportunity thanks to the single spot available at the FEI Nations Cup final in Barcelona, secured due to the withdrawal of one of the participating countries.

It’s worth noting that Italy’s last appearance at the Olympics dates back to 2004 in Athens. Now, the destiny of the Italian national representatives lies in their hands, where they’ll need to exhibit courage, determination, and perhaps a bit of luck to secure the Olympic qualification.

The final decision is set to be announced on October 1st, exactly one month from now. During this period of uncertainty, it’s crucial to remember that sports are a realm of challenges, victories, and defeats, but above all, they are a realm of hopes. Milan witnessed a lack of courage and determination, but the future remains unwritten and may hold unexpected surprises.

The Road to Paris

For clarity, it’s essential to examine how Olympic qualification unfolded in the Show Jumping team discipline. Aside from France, which earned an automatic spot as the host nation of the 2024 Olympics, there were 19 other available spots. These were allocated based on a series of events and qualification criteria from August 2022 to the end of the 2023 season.

• Five spots (15 pairs) were allocated to the top five teams, excluding the host nation’s team, at the 2022 FEI Jumping World Championships.
• One spot (three pairs) was granted to the best team, excluding those already qualified, based on the final ranking of the FEI Nations Cup Jumping Final 2022.
• Three spots (nine pairs) went to the top three teams, excluding those already qualified, from the FEI 2023 European Jumping Championships of FEI Groups A and/or B.
• Two spots (six pairs) were awarded to the top two teams, excluding those already qualified, from Group C of the FEI 2023 Designated Olympic Qualification Event.
• Three spots (nine pairs) were allocated to the top three teams, excluding those already qualified, from FEI Groups D and/or E at the 2023 Pan American Games.
• Two spots (six pairs) were granted to the top two teams, excluding those already qualified, from FEI Groups F at the 2023 Designated Olympic Qualification Event.
• Two spots (six pairs) were provided to the top two teams, excluding those already qualified, from FEI Groups G at the 2023 Designated Olympic Qualification Event.

FEI OLYMPIC QUALIFYING GROUPS: https://inside.fei.org/system/files/ANNEX%20E%20Olympic%20Groups.pdf

Photo Copyright ©FEI/Leanjo de Koster – Stefan Eder (AUT) with Condaro at 2023 FEI European Championship after qualification for 2024 Paris Olympics

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