WE'RE OFF TO THE PARIS OLYMPICS: EQUESTRIAN

11/07/2024

In the run up to the Olympic Games, each week we'll be presenting the athletes who will have the privilege of competing for Belgium in Paris between 26 July and 11 August 2024. We will present them discipline by discipline... Today, we're putting the spotlight on equestrian sports!

Equestrian comprises three disciplines at the Games, with men and women competing on equal terms. In the jumping discipline, riders and horses are timed as they jump over obstacles, with time penalties imposed for each obstacle toppled. Agility, technique and harmony between horse and rider are essential.

Dressage is the most advanced form of horse training, where horse and rider perform a series of artistic movements to music. Judges evaluate the ease and fluidity with which they move around the course.

Finally, eventing resembles an equestrian triathlon. It combines the two other events—jumping and dressage—with a third: cross-country, which consists of a long course combining solid and natural obstacles, drawing on the athletes' endurance and experience. The horse and rider with the most versatile skills win the three events.

Eventing:

• Karin Donckers with Leipheimer van’t Verahof

• Lara de Liedekerke de Pailhe with Origi

• Tine Magnus with Dia van het Lichterveld

Dressage:

• Domien Michiels with Intermezzo Van Het Meerdaalhof

• Flore De Winne with Flynn FRH

• Larissa Pauluis with Flambeau

Jumping:

• Gilles Thomas with Ermitage Kalone

• Jérôme Guéry with Quel Homme de Hus

• Wilm Vermeir with IQ van het Steentje