December 2010 Summits Of Our Sport The other side of Dalma Rushdi Malhas – Page 28 FEI Awards 2010 FEI rewards equestrian heroes – Page 40 rolex rolex fei world fei world cupTM cupjumpingTM jumping octoberoctober 2010 to 2010 april to 2011 april 2011 AcrossAcross the globe, the globe,riders ridersface off face off in dozensin dozensof indoor of indoorcontests contests – each – each a test ofa testprecision, of precision, form and form nerve. and Thosenerve. withThose the with the greatestgreatest talent, talent,and the and determination the determination to surpass to surpass hundredshundreds of challengers, of challengers, will claim will theirclaim league’s their league’s top spot.top Their spot. reward? Their reward? A place A atplace the 2011at the Rolex 2011 Rolex FEI WorldFEI WorldCup™ Cup™Final. Final.In jumping, In jumping, there’s there’s no no competitioncompetition that’s more that’s intense. more intense. And no And prize no that’s prize that’s more prestigious.more prestigious. rolex.rolex. a crown a crown for every for every achievement. achievement. OYSTEROYSTER PERPETUAL PERPETUAL DAY-DATE DAY-DATE II II IN PLATINUMIN PLATINUM FEIFocus_FEI_11_10.inddFEIFocus_FEI_11_10.indd 1 1 18.11.10 18.11.1009:37 09:37 Editorial Note from the FEI President We are coming to the end of what has been one of the busiest and most exciting years in FEI history. In terms of sport, two prestigious events – the inaugu- The Equine Prohibited Substances List is an important Equestrian Association, how our sport is organised in ral Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and the Alltech tool in the FEI’s Clean Sport Campaign and we are de- his beautiful country and how he would like to see it FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky – enhanced lighted that athletes, judges, vets and everyone else develop. our exciting calendar of series and championships. involved in our sport can now access the database at We invite you to look back at some of the highlights any time with our new mobile phone applications. You Siim Nŏmmoja is Secretary General of the small but of those events with us. A proud moment occurred in can read about the app, which is available for nearly all dynamic Estonian National Federation. Siim gracious- Singapore, when a female athlete from the Kingdom smartphone devices, on the pages that follow. ly devoted some of his precious time to telling us how of Saudi Arabia competed for the first time in history he organises 24 hours of his life, which you can read in an Olympic event. Dalma Rushdi Malhas, whose In July, the FEI called for nominations for its an- about in A Life in a day. performance on Flash Top Hat in the individual Jump- nual five-category awards and, in November, the FEI ing competition earned her the Youth Olympic bronze Awards ceremony in Chinese Taipei ended our General It was a great honour for me to be re-elected as Presi- medal, is one of the young riders we interviewed for Assembly week there in style. It was a real pleasure for dent of the FEI and I am very grateful for your support. our Other Side Of features. me to present the awards to the four truly exceptional I thank you all for your unstinting commitment to our and deserving individuals who were able to attend wonderful sport this year and look forward to working Our most prestigious events were watched by fans of and we look forward to bringing you news of them with you in 2011. equestrianism everywhere, thanks to our online chan- throughout 2011. Everybody who attended the FEI nel FEI TV. Five subscribers in different parts of the General Assembly was impressed by the warmth and world told us about the moments they most enjoyed generosity of our hosts. In our Postcard from… fea- HRH Princess Haya watching on FEI TV this year. ture, we ask Mr An-Chn Hsu, President of the Chinese FEI President 03 Table of Contents Impressum - Focus n.5 - December 2010 Circulation 2,500 Contact / Advertising FEI - Fédération Equestre Internationale Frequency Quarterly Richard [email protected] Avenue de Rumine 37 Editor in Chief Olivia Robinson CH-1005 Lausanne Design / Art Equestrio SA T. +41 21 310 47 47 Printing Litoterrazzi - Italy F. +41 21 310 47 60 Cover IOC/Richard Juilliart www.fei.org 06 Alltech FEI 28 The Other side of... 36 Postcard from 40 FEI Awards 2010 Mario Gamboa and Dalma Rushdi Malhas Chinese Taipei Equestrian Association FEI rewards equestrian heroes World Equestrian Games™ A celebration of equestrian spirit & sportsmanship 32 FEI Apps 38 A life in a day 44 FEI TV FEI smartphone App Siim Nŏmmoja Behind the screens 18 Eventing Series Highlights 34 Globetrotter TM 22 Meydan FEI Nations Cup Fabulous French 06 28 32 04 05 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games TM A celebration of equestrian spirit & sportsmanship “For the first time, the FEI World Equestrian Games have crossed an ocean to bring the best of our sport to another continent. We are witnessing a new beginning that will help spread the magic of horse sport and inspire young equestrian athletes to aim for the top.” FEI President HRH Princess Haya at the opening ceremony As you will see and feel over the coming pages, the many faces of horse sport met for a brief moment in time during which the best athletes from all over the globe gathered to compete in eight World Championships. No less than 662 athletes and 752 horses from 56 countries fought hard for the 81 medals up for grabs. New faces emerged, hard work and dedication proved indispensable and experience a true friend in times of trouble. The sheer combination of countries, athletes both novice and experienced, equestrian disciplines, volunteers, local enthusiasm, officials, fans, media, world breaking records, passion and dedication made the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ truly remarkable. Alongside the thrilling competition it was revealed just weeks following the Games that all human and equine samples tested negative for prohibited substances, underlying the true spirit of sportsmanship and welfare at the heart of horse sport. 06 07 The host nation and defending double-champions from the USA scooped the first gold medals of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ when spinning, slide-stopping and galloping to a convinc- ing victory in the Reining Team Championship. They Reining USA dominated the leaderboard with their final score of 674.5 leaving them almost 10 points clear of Belgium in silver medal position while Italy took bronze. It was an historic moment for the Belgians as they claimed their first World Championship medal in this discipline. America reclaimed the individual World Championship title with Tom McCutcheon stepping up to the top spot of the podium. In silver medal position, and as a reminder of America’s Reining fervour, US rider Craig Schmersal proved to be a step ahead of defending World Champion Duane Latimer from Canada who had to settle for bronze. 63 athletes from 21 countries 65 athletes from 33 countries Dreaming of dressage With three gold medals, the magic of Moorlands Totilas and Edward Gal reigned supreme, but they did not steal all the limelight… Laura Bechtolsheimer (GBR) and Mistral Hojris clenched silver in both the Grand Prix Freestyle and Grand Prix Special becoming the first ever British rider to take three medals at a World Dressage Championship - in the Team, Special and Freestyle. While for double bronze medallist (Grand prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle) Steffen Peters and Ravel – he became the first American to win an individual Championship medal in Dressage in the 78 years since Colonel Hiram Tottle and his horse, Olympic, took bronze at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1932. The sensational energy of Spain’s Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz and his aptly named Andalusian stallion Fuego were also a huge hit with the spectators, as well as providing Spain with great results (4th in the Grand Prix Individual and 5th in the Grand Prix Freestyle). Team medals: Netherlands (gold), Great Britain (silver), Germany (bronze) 08 09 80 athletes from 24 countries Eventing emotions Michael Jung riding La Biosthetique Sam FBW became Germany’s first-ever individual Eventing World Champion followed by William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain in silver medal position and Andrew Nicholson (NZL) with Nereo in bronze position. Team gold went to Great Britain, who boast the record for the biggest number of World Team titles - 1970, 1982, 1986, 1994 and 2010. Both Mary King and Tina Cook were also on the winning British team at The Hague in 1994. Canada stepped up to the second step on the podium followed by New Zealand with the team bronze medal. 25 athletes from 19 countries Driving for gold Boyd Exell from Australia has been on the hunt for a gold medal in four-in-hand driving for many years. Mission accomplished, and in great style with a World Record dressage test, a third place in the marathon, Exell drove a safe cones course straight to his first individual gold medal. Dutch driver IJsbrand Chardon took the silver; with the bronze going to USA’s Tucker Johnson. Team medals: The Netherlands (gold), USA (silver), Germany (bronze) 10 11 Para- Equestrian Dressage debut Ia Individual Grand Prix: Sophie Christiansen (GBR) - gold; Anne Dunham (GBR) 60 athletes from 16 countries - silver; Emma Sheardown (GBR) - bronze Ia Individual Freestyle: Emma Sheardown (GBR) - gold; Sophie Christiansen (GBR) - silver; Anne Dunham (GBR) - bronze Para-Equestrian Dressage was included in the FEI Ib Individual Grand Prix: World Equestrian Games™ for the first time in Lee Pearson (GBR) - gold; Ricky Balshaw (GBR) - silver; Kentucky.