Equestrian at the Summer Olympics | |
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Governing body | FEI |
Events | 6 (mixed) |
Games | |
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Equestrianism made its Summer Olympics debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. It disappeared until 1912, but has appeared at every Summer Olympic Games since. The current Olympic equestrian disciplines are Dressage, Eventing, and Jumping. In each discipline, both individual and team medals are awarded. Women and men compete together on equal terms.
Equestrian disciplines and the equestrian component of Modern Pentathlon are also the only Olympic events that involve animals. The horse is considered as much an athlete as the rider.
The International Governing Body for equestrian sports is the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). The 1924 Olympics were the first at which equestrian competitions were held under the authority of the FEI.
Equestrian events were first held at the 1900 Paris Olympic Games, although it did not include any of the disciplines seen today. There were 4 different equestrian events.
The polo competition consisted of 4 teams made up of players from Britain, France, Mexico, Spain, and the United States.
Grand Prix Jumping, which was similar to today's show jumping event, for which 45 competitors entered, though only 37 competed. The first and second place was taken by riders from Belgium (1. Aimé Haageman on Benton II, 2. Georges van der Poële riding Winsor Squire), while a French rider, Louis de Champsavin, on his mount Terpsichore, got the third place.
The High Jump competition resulted in a tie between French rider Dominique Gardere on Canela and Italian Gian Giorgio Trissino on Oreste, with both of their horses clearing 1.85 meters, and the bronze was given to Constant van Langendonck of Belgium, whose mount, Extra Dry, cleared 1.70 meters. However, Constant van Langendonck and Extra Dry were able to clinch the gold in the Long Jump competition, clearing a distance of 6.10 meters. Trissino and Oreste won the silver, clearing 5.70 meters, and M. de Bellegarde of France won the bronze with the 5.30 meter jump by his mount Tolla.