300 Days to London Olympics
13 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on 300 Days to London Olympics
Saturday, Oct. 1 marks 300 days to go to the 2012 London Olympic Games where equestrian sport will celebrate its centenary on the Olympic Program.
So far, teams and individual riders from 18 nations have qualified to compete in the three Olympic equestrian disciplines of dressage, eventing and jumping.
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Ukraine and the USA will compete alongside host nation Great Britain. To date, Germany and Sweden join host nation Great Britain in having qualified teams in all three disciplines.
The Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, Oct. 14-29 are the team qualifiers for Olympic Groups covering North, South and Central America.
Two nations from these groups which have not yet qualified will be able to secure their spot in dressage and eventing and three teams will qualify in jumping.
Twelve nations are entered in the dressage team competition.
The United States qualified a team at the World Equestran Games in Kentucky in 2010, so team berths will be decided between the 11 other nations.
Dressage competition at the Pan Ams begins with the team competition on Sunday, Oct. 16. with individual competition scheduled for Monday, Oct. 17 and Wednesday, Oct. 19.
The U.S. has won team gold at the last three Pan Ams, held once every four years at Prix St. Georges/Intermediaire level.
