There long has been concern that equestrian sports will not be able to continue in the Olympics as those Games continue to evolve with financial restrictions, but word came today that show jumping, dressage and eventing were formally confirmed for the Paris 2024 Olympic program in the elegant setting of Versailles, with the full quota of 200 athlete/horse combinations confirmed.
The ratification at the International Olympic Committee Executive Board meeting means there will be 75 participants in the jumping, 65 in eventing and 60 for dressage.
FEI President and IOC Member Ingmar De Vos called the confirmation “a token of appreciation for the efforts the FEI and the equestrian community have made to increase the fan base and improve digital figures for our sport. We really appreciate that the IOC didn’t touch our quota as we knew they needed to reduce the overall Games-wide quota to 10,500 athletes, but our sport has grown so much over the last decade that a reduction of our quota would have been detrimental to the universality of our Olympic competitions.”
Versailles, with King Louis XIV’s palace as a backdrop, will be one of the Paris Games’ most iconic venues. The modern pentathlon also will be there, but in a new,abbreviated 90-minute version. The time they saved by compacting it can go towards staging a new “sport” for Paris–break dancing. It was part of the closing ceremonies for the 1984 Olympics. Watching it at that time, I found it amusing, but never dreamed it would wind up as a medal event.