Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, an Olympic and European Championships show jumping gold medalist, talked from the heart at the European Equestrian Federation meeting during the FEI general assembly today, saying the FEI wasn’t listening to the riders about the problems with the three-member teams at the Tokyo Olympics.
The FEI seems set to have the same format for Paris in 2024, with committees from all three disciplines approving the concept, which is awaiting a formal vote. Approval would mean the organization is not putting the welfare of the horse first, Steve said.
Swiss star Steve Guerdat has a collection of medals from every major championship. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Without the traditional drop score that can only used with a squad of four, “for a lot of teams, things were over after one or two riders, ” Steve pointed out.
He noted that the European Championships, which followed the Olympics, were more exciting because of their four-member teams. That format offers “much better sport,” he maintained, and there isn’t the pressure for a rider who is having problems to continue because the team can finish if he becomes the drop score. But without a drop score, even if their horse is struggling, riders may continue their rounds because they don’t want to let their country down.
The three-member teams enabled the FEI to include “more flags” in the Tokyo line-up, which is something the International Olympic Committee looks for–greater participation, with a wider range of countries appearing. There is always the threat that equestrian sports will be dropped from a Games that is featuring such trendy competitions as skate boarding and rock climing.
But it was obvious some nations at Tokyo simply weren’t up to the team test, so Steve said it would be better to have eight teams of four riders than 10 teams of three riders. Countries that are developing in terms of equestrian sport, he noted “don’t have three solid horse/rider combinations.”
He suggested, “Wouldn’t it be smarter to think and put all this time and resources into how do we help new and upcoming countries get better?” One way is to have more individual riders from countries that can’t really field a full team of athletes who are at the Olympic level.
An argument for teams of three has been that a drop score makes things difficult to understand among people unfamiliar with show jumping, but Steve disagrees. There’s nothing complicated about dropping the worst score from a team of four, and other sports do it, he pointed out.
He doesn’t believe the rules should be changed “for people who don’t follow equestrian sport.”
He had gone to the FEI to ask what could be done to make sport better and eliminate some of the ugly pictures from Tokyo. He was dismayed, however, to read a letter from the IOC to the FEI that praised the way things went in Tokyo.
Saying he was “really sad and disappointed,” Steve added “nobody is listening to the riders.” Other big names who have expressed concern include 2016 individual gold medalist Nick Skelton of Great Britain and the USA’s McLain Ward.
Steve said he felt like an idiot for his efforts in making a case that seems to have come to nothing. He wanted to give up, but other riders had begged him, “Try to save our sport.”
A group of countries, including France and the U.S., have requested a return to four-member teams. The number of riders is also a major issue in eventing, but the three-member team works well enough for dressage because of the nature of that discipline.
The general assembly continues through Wednesday in Antwerp and on line.