EQUESTRIAN – SPORT COMPETITION

1.  KEY STATISTICS

Entrants / 123
Delegations / 33
Dressage (Entries per event) / 89
English Equitation (Entries per event) / 89
Prix Caprilli (Entries per event) / 8
Team Relay (Entries per event) / 54 (27 pairs)
Working Trails (Entries per event) / 100
Total efforts (divisioning + competition) / 462
Specific Volunteers / 113

2.  HIGHLIGHTS

During the Athens 2011 World Summer Games, the Equestrian events were held in the Olympic Equestrian Centre of Markopoulo. The competition was conducted with horses provided by the OC. The 85 horses arrived the Sunday 19th of June, and accommodated at the stables of the Olympic Equestrian Centre. After their registration (horse number – name – stable number), they started to be trained properly for the events. The Horse Training Supervisors were supervising the training and keeping notes in order to propose each horse to suitable events and levels during pre-matching. The last day of training, after the Venue General Rehearsal they submitted the Horse Profiles filled to the Competition Management.

The pre-matching was held after the collection of Riders Profiles and was supervised by the Technical Delegate and the Assistant Technical Delegate. The whole procedure lasted about ten hours (2 five-hour sessions) and finally proved successful and effective as during matching the most riders choose the proposed horses.

The matching procedure took part in ten arenas (6 + 2 big arenas divided) and can be considered as an achievement of the Sport Team as it was fulfilled in 4 ½ hours (9:30 – 14:00) and the Matching Results were available for the TOs 1 hour later.

In the stable area was located the Stables Info Desk, where the OC staff, the people who accompany the horses (30 persons) and the volunteers, could be informed about all the competition matters (schedule, starting lists etc). The Stable Info Desk was co-operating closely with the Sport Info Desk to handle properly the special riding equipment. This was also a strong point because made the riders and their coaches to feel helped and safe when they mount horses prepared with their own saddles and stirrups ready to compete. In relation to the competition this planning was crucial for the accuracy of the time schedule.

As concern the time schedule no change/correction was made in any day. The program that was given at the Head Coaches Meeting did not change at all, neither in the time nor in the locations (arenas).

For keeping the accuracy of the schedule was necessary to plan correctly the procedure of staging. In equestrian, staging was divided in two parts. The competition staging area for athletes was outdoors, and was a responsibility of Sport Info Desk staff in co-operation with the Staging Supervisor to have the athletes ready to mount 30 min before their exact competition time (which was indicated on the scheduling reports). On the other hand Groom Supervisors and volunteers in co-operation with horse staff should bring the horses at the same time in Staging/Mounting arena, opposite of the staging area.

As the main issue of the Games was the safety of the athletes, great emphasis was given to the paths leading to the FOPs. The Horse Training Supervisors and volunteers were placed in certain points, along the path that the horses, with athletes on, were moving, ready to interfere in any case. In the FOPs this role was given to the FOP assistants and spotters.

Regarding the highlights, the operation of the Results System should be noted. Forty different reports were produced by the Results and GMS team, full with the useful information. That made the job easier for all the different parties (stable staff, competition, judges).

In relation to the safety, sometimes the time allowed to warm up was changed depending on the level of the athletes and the events, because after a certain time the riders could be tired and make the horses nervous. Also the planning was to have no more than 8 horses in the warm up arena at the same time.

Finally, the handling of the potential safety issues can be considered an achievement of the whole Venue Team, as only four falls happened in more than 600 times that athletes mount horses (462 divisioning and competition, plus at least 150 during matching). Only one fall noted in competition, one in warm up and two during matching and none of these falls caused injuries to the athletes.

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