Could eventing become ‘equestrian triathlon’?

Eventing could see its name changed to Equestrian Triathlon in time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Radical changes

“Radical changes” to all three equestrian disciplines at the Olympics were discussed at the FEI general assembly in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“Why do we want to change our formats and the way our sport is presented?” said FEI president Ingmar De Vos. “The answer is really quite simple, because we want to remain relevant in today’s ever changing sporting landscape and gain the exposure and visibility our sport deserves.”

Wider audience

It is hoped by giving eventing a more accessible name it will bring the sport to a wider audience. Other suggested changes are to condense the dressage phase to a single day using a shorter test. The traditional format of dressage, cross-country and jumping would remain the same.

“British Eventing has established a working group consisting of our key stakeholders in relation to the discussions and debates relating to Olympic Agenda 2020,” said British Eventing chief executive David Holme. “This working group will be reviewing all the outputs from the FEI general assembly in a meeting at the beginning of December.”

No drop scores

One key proposal across all three sports is to have just three team members competing, which would mean there would be no drop scores. Separating individual and team events was also suggested.

If the changes go ahead, dressage would have a total of 15 teams and 15 individual athletes competing. A series of heats would see the top 18 qualify for the individual final.

In showjumping, there would be 20 teams and 15 individuals, with a jump-off for first place in both individual and team events. In the team jump-off, all three combinations would compete against the clock, but only the best score would count.

‘Broadcast friendly’

We could also see team jumping taking on the same format as the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup format, with just the top 10 teams starting on zero penalties in the final to decide the medals.

“Olympic Agenda 2020 is a driving force in this process, but even prior to that we already knew that changes needed to be made to our formats and the presentation of our sport”, said the FEI president.

“We need to take advantage of the excitement and drama of our sport, make it easier to understand, attract young and larger audiences, be broadcast friendly and see more nations represented in our sport.”