The EquiPortal guide to the Beijing Olympics 2008

Equestrian Events

The Olympic games are upon us and that means we get to see some of Britain's top riders perform, representing Britain and working towards bringing back the gold.

A Bit About the Olympics...

The Olympic Games take place every four years. The Games of the XXVIII Olympiad took place in Athens (GRE) in 2004.
The 2008 Olympics are being held in Beijing, Hong Kong, where temperatures reach up to 30 degrees C / 86 degrees F – phew!
The host country have ensured that every care has been taken to make the horses as comfortable as possible in this climate,
using air conditioned stabling, air conditioned warm up arena and holding the cross country in the evening when its at its coolest.

The Events...

The equestrian events at the Beijing Olympics 2008 are:

• Eventing (See our guide to Eventing: ThreeDayEventing)
• Dressage (See our guide to Dressage: DressageRules)
• Show Jumping (See our guide to Show Jumping: ShowJumpingRules)
• Para-Dressage

The Schedule..

Show Jumping
15th August: First qualifying competition
17th-18th August: Team Competition
21st August: individual Final

Dressage
13th-14th August: Grand Prix Dressage Team competition and the first Individual Qualifier
16th August: Grand Prix special test and second Individual qualifier
19th August: Freestyle test to music, Individual Final

Eventing
9th -10th August: Dressage
11th August: Cross Country
12th August: Team and Individual Show Jumping

Click here to download and print off the 2008 Olympic schedule∞

TV Coverage:

BBC are providing coverage of the games with BBC 1 being the primary channel and BBC 2 giving some coverage.
You can also find coverage on Freeview channels 1,2 and 3 and also on Sky channels.
Because Hong Kong is 7 hours in front of UK time, the live coverage of the Olympics will take place between 2am and 6am.
You can either record the live coverage or catch the round up broadcast at 6am – 11am on BBC1.
The BBC will also have coverage through the day and a second round up broadcast at 17.30 – 18.30 on BBC1 every day.
Check out the BBC sports website for more details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cmh3v/comingup∞

The GBR competitors....

3 Day Eventing Team

• William Fox Pitt Ballincoola Parkmore Ed Tamarillo

• Sharon Hunt Tankers Town

• Mary King Call Again Cavalier Imperial Cavalier

• Daisy Dick Spring Along

• Tina Cook Miners Frolic

Show Jumping:

• Tim Stockdale Fresh Direct Corlato

• John Whitaker Peppermill

• Michael Whitaker Suncal Portofino 63

• Ben Maher Rolette

Reserve:

• Nick Skelton Russel

Dressage

• Laura Bechtolsheimer Mistral Hojris

• Emma Hindle Lancet

• Jane Gregory Lucky Star

Reserve:

• Maria Eilberg Two Sox

Para-Dressage:

• Sophie Christiansen Lambrusco III

• Anne Dunham Teddy

• Ricky Balshaw Deacon's Giorgi

• Lee Pearson Gentleman

• Felicity Coulthard Roffelaar

• Debbie Criddle Pavaroti

• Simon Laurens Ocean Diamond

The other competing countries taking part in the Olympic Equestrian Events are:
Dressage:

• Germany
• Netherlands
• USA
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Canada
• Brazil

Eventing:

• Germany
• Australia
• USA
• Sweden
• Canada
• Brazil
• France
• Italy

Show Jumping:

• Netherlands
• USA
• Germany
• Ukraine
• Switzerland
• Sweden
• Norway
• Brazil
• Canada
• Mexico
• Saudi Arabia
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Republic of China / Hong Kong

The British riders are up against some stiff competition, but we have every chance of bringing back a medal and once again showing the world the high level of riding skill we perform within the Equestrian sport. Fingers crossed and enjoy the action!


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