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Federation
Equestre Internationale News
7
January 2004
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FEI
GANDINI WORLD JUMPING RIDERS RANKINGS
FUCHS IN THE LEAD, MICHAEL WHITAKER BACK IN THE TOP TEN
With 3135 points, the Swiss rider Markus Fuchs is leading the
FEI Gandini World Jumping Riders Rankings No. 36 despite having
scored no points in December 2003. Markus Fuchs was forced to
retire in the opening competition of CSI-W Geneva early December
due to strains in the adductors. He is expected to be back to
competition for Zurich CSI 5* at the end of January.
Ludger Beerbaum (GER) keeps his second position with 2647 points
and is followed by fellow countryman Marcus Ehning at 2339 pts.
Otto Becker (GER), goes up from 6th to 4th place. He scored 85
points at CSI-W Geneva where he finished second in the World Cup,
140 points in La Coruna (ESP) and another 90 in Munich.
Michael Whitaker (GBR) is back in the Top Ten with 1750 points.
He earned 85 points in London Olympia where he finished 4th of
the World Cup competition and another 80 in La Coruna.
Also to be noted the excellent progression of Jan Tops (NED) who
goes up from the 36th to the 21st spot, thanks to his excellent
performance in December, mainly in London, Maastricht and Paris.
1 Markus Fuchs SUI 3135
2 Ludger Beerbaum GER 2647
3 Marcus Ehning GER 2339
4 Otto Becker GER 2206
5 Lars Nieberg GER 2109
6 Jos Lansink BEL 2069
7 Rodrigo Pessoa BRA 2049
8 Beezie Madden -Patton USA 1965
9 Michael Whitaker GBR 1750
10 Malin Baryard SWE 1696
The complete rankings will be available on the FEI website www.horsesport.org,
section consult, results, jumping on 8 January evening.
FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING
SWEDISH MAGIC IN MECHELEN.
Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson headed the line-up at the seventh
leg of the FEI World Cup Jumping series in Mechelen, Belgium when
scorching to victory with Mac Kinley in the Land Rover Grand Prix.
Course designer Lucien Somers set them a tough test over his 13-fence
track and Rolf-Goran said "the oxers were big and wide with
some tricky distances so it was quite difficult in the first round".
The tall planks at the third element of the treble combination
at fence 10 hit the floor many times as the later part of the
course took its toll, and many of the most likely contenders paid
the price for a single error including Holland's Eric Van der
Vleuten and Audi's Jikke, winners at the opening leg of the current
series in Helsinki in October.
Unluckiest of all perhaps was Bruno Broucqault who left all the
poles in place but picked up just a single time fault with Hooligan
de Rosyl but, as it turned out, that was good enough to secure
sixth place at the end of the day as only five riders went into
the jump-off and the Frenchman now shares equal-ninth position
on the World Cup standings leaderboard with Malin Baryard.
The World Cup standings are now headed by Jos Lansink whose runner-up
placing in Mechelen has boosted his position. Eric Van der Vleuten
lies second with Germany's Marco Kutscher in third and all three
of these riders now look well-qualified for the final in Milan
next April while Olympia winner Helena Weinberg (4th), Michael
Whitaker (5th) and double-World Cup winner this season, Thomas
Velin (6th), also look comfortably in touch with a qualifying
place.
For further information on Mechelen visit website www.jumping-mechelen.com
The next leg of the FEI World Cup Jumping series takes place in
Leipzig, Germany on 25 January.
BIOGRAPHIES on riders competing in the FEI World Cup series are
available at http://bios.horsesport.org.
FEI BCM WORLD DRESSAGE RIDERS RANKINGS
Ulla Salzgeber's lead undisputed
In the middle of the World Cup season, Ulla Salzgeber's reign
over the rankings is unquestionable. With a total of 80.615, she
is almost 4 points ahead her runner-up Lisa Wilcox (USA).
With a total of 76.436, Heike Kemmer (GER) is stealing the 3rd
place from Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, thanks to her good results in
Maastricht, where she won the Grand Prix and the Kür in a
close fight against local heroine Anky van Grunsven. She was riding
Bonaparte, a now nine-year-old Hannoverian gelding found by her
father Joachim as a foal. After 4 events, Heike Kemmer is the
leader of the World Cup Dressage standings of the Western European
League.
The Top 20 of the rankings sees the remarkable progression of
Edward Gal (NED) which goes up from 26th to 19th place. For Edward
Gal and Gestion Lingh, trained by Anky's van Grunsven partner
and trainer Sjef Janssen, second place in the World Cup of Mechelen
last 29 December 2003 rewarded a new level of concentration and
partnership for this comparatively inexperienced but talented
couple.
1 Ulla Salzgeber GER 80.615
2 Lisa Wilcox USA 76.824
3 Heike Kemmer GER 76.736
4 Beatriz Ferrer - Salat ESP 76.715
5 Debbie McDonald USA 76.305
6 Jan Brink SWE 75.669
7 Klaus Husenbeth GER 75.530
8 Isabell Werth GER 75.384
9 Nadine Capellmann GER 74.759
10 Lone Jörgensen DEN 74.621
The complete rankings will be available on the FEI website www.horsesport.org,
section consult, results, jumping on 8 January evening.
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FEI DRESSAGE WORLD CUP
Mechelen, Belgium, 29 December 2003
Spirit of Song accompanies Salinero to victory
Anky van Grunsven showed she is back on top form with a resounding
victory in the FEI World Cup Dressage Qualifier in Mechelen last
December. The Dutch ace rode her young talent Gestion Salinero
to victory here in 2002, but disaster was to befall her weeks
later when injuries sustained in a fall at home put paid to her
competitive hopes for much of the year. In Mechelen, the nine-year-old
Salinero exhibited a new level of accomplishment and surety in
a breathtaking performance to a new freestyle programme L'Esprit
Chanson designed by Cees Slings and Viktor Kerkoff. The whole
package could only be described as brilliant.
Van Grunsven, the reigning Olympic champion who won the World
Cup a record five times on her wonderful partner Gestion Bonfire,
has now risen to third place in the season's standings, and is
on course for a place at the final in Dusseldorf (April 1-4 2004).
Edward Gal and Gestion Lingh, took the second position. With Antoinette
Falandt in third place on Jarwo, followed by Sven Rothenberger
and Marlies van Baalen, Mechelen proved the place where the tide
of Dutch fortune turned. The team failed to come home with a European
medal, but as the New Year dawns with Athens on the horizon, prospects
for a strong Dutch contribution to the World Cup Final on the
way to Olympic heights are looking very rosy, given good fortune.
For the home crowd too there was hope for the future as Belgium's
Jeroen Devroe turned in a promising performance for seventh place
behind top Swiss rider Christian Plaege.
The next FEI World Cup Dressage qualifier takes place in Amsterdam,
The Netherlands 29 January to 1 February 2004).
Full results: http://www.jumping-mechelen.com
World Cup Standings:
1. Heike Kemmer (GER) 72 points
2. Emma Hindle (GBR) 50 pts
3. Anky van Grunsven (NED) 37 pts
FEI WORLD CUP DRIVING
Schrijvers wins FEI World Cup Driving at home soil
Gert Schrijvers won the FEI World Cup Driving competition of Mechelen,
Belgium. Encouraged by the enthusiastic crowd in the sold out
Nekkerhal, Schrijvers drove his team of Arabo Friesian sport horses
fluently through the course, designed by German course designer
Falk Böhnisch.
Since the Series was created three years ago, it is the first
time that Schrijvers wins the World Cup. By winning in Mechelen,
Schrijvers has climbed to the second place in the standings, which
is led by Michael Freund. Germany's Rainer Duen, driving his first
World Cup event of this season, made up for his elimination in
the warm up competition by driving the only clear round of the
evening, and came second. The Swiss driver Werner Ulrich, winner
of the warm up competition, took the third place,
driving his team of Swiss horses. Ulrich now owes the third place
of the standings and has, like Schrijvers and Freund, two more
competitions to go. Tomas Eriksson from Sweden passed the finish
line two seconds faster than the winner of the World Cup, but
the double World Champion knocked three cones down and dropped
to the fourth place.
The next World Cup competition will place in Leipzig, Germany,
on 25 January 2004.
Created in 2001, the Driving World Cup has provided an innovative
new style of competition for indoor events, with courses combining
marathon and cone driving obstacles. The 2003/2004 season of the
World Cup includes seven events with eight competitions: Stuttgart
(GER), Stockholm (SWE), Mechelen (BEL) in 2003; Leipzig (GER),
two competitions in Vigo (ESP), 's-Hertogenbosch (NED) and Göteborg
(SWE) in 2004.
The winner of the first two editions of the World Cup was Michael
Freund (GER).
Complete standings available at www.worldcupdriving.com or www.horsesport.org
JONQUIL SOLT TO RECEIVE THE ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
The Order of the British Empire (OBE) is a long established recognition,
which is given to persons in all walks of life - sport, arts,
industry, and medicine - for outstanding work.
The work of Mrs Jonquil Solt, President of the International Paralympic
Equestrian Committee (I.P.E.C has been recognised by her inclusion
for an OBE in the 2004 Honours list. She will be invited to Buckingham
Palace during the next few months to receive this Honour from
Her Majesty the Queen.
Jonquil Solt is involved in riding for people with disabilities
since 1965. In 1991, the International Paralympic Equestrian Committee
(I.P.E.C.) was set up to govern and develop equestrian sport for
disabled people world-wide; and Jonquil Solt was elected to it
as Founder Vice-Chairman. At the same time she undertook to organise
the 1994 World Dressage Championship for Disabled Riders, which
was held at Hartpury College in England.
Jonquil Solt took on the chairmanship of I.P.E.C. in 1995. Before
long she was faced with the requirement to raise the number of
nations taking part, from 16 to at least 24, for Equestrian to
remain a Paralympic Sport. With a small but devoted team of experts,
she began to travel the world and provide a lead to great numbers
of local organisers, who were happy to support the sport in their
own countries. The result was beyond expectations, and there are
now over 40 nations where Equestrian Sport is practiced under
the Paralympic umbrella. Over 120 competitors participated at
the recent World Dressage Championships in Belgium, from countries
as far apart as Russia and New Zealand, Brazil and Japan.
Jonquil Solt was awarded the 1999 Woman of Achievement Award (Humanitarian
Section).
LE GOFF WINS USA EQUESTRIAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Jack Le Goff, 72, has been named as the winner of the 2003 USA
Equestrian Lifetime Achievement Award for the Jimmy A. Williams
Trophy. This prestigious award is bestowed annually by the USA
Equestrian Executive Committee to an outstanding equestrian or
equestrians whose "lifetime experience and accomplishments
exemplify uncommon devotion to the sport of horse showing and
whose equestrian career and horsemanship has continually elevated
the sport's excellence."
Le Goff, a veteran of the French bronze medal team of the Rome
Olympics in 1960 and the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, was a member
and Riding Master of the French Army's famed Cadre Noir. Le Goff
coached the 1964 and 1968 French Olympic Team, including the individual
gold medallist, Jean-Jacques Guyon and Pitou. Under his leadership
the United States Eventing Team won the Olympic, World Championship
and Pan-American Championship in Eventing. In 1983, Le Goff was
chosen as the AHSA (USA NF) Horseman of the Year. The following
year, he retired as Coach of the United States Eventing Team and
served for five years as the Director of the USET (us Equestrian
Team) Training Center in Hamilton, MA.
FEI retired judge and member of the Eventing Committee from 1999
to 2003, Jack Le Goff chaired the Working Group, which developed
the Eventing World Cup concept, which was successfully launched
in 2003.
The award will be formally presented at the Pegasus Dinner held
as part of the U.S. Equestrian Annual Meeting, on 16 January 2004,
in Los Angeles (USA).
www.horsesport.org
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