Normandy World Games End With Near-Record for Spectators, Most Participants
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CAEN, France, Sept. 7, 2014–The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games came to an end Sunday after two weeks of championships in eight horse sports that attracted near-record crowds to watch the greatest number of nations competing.
For the seventh time the World Games have been held once every four years since the first event in Stockholm in 1990, the organizers reported 565,000 spectators. The WEG in Aachen, Germany reported 576,000 spectators in 2006 while the Games in Lexington, Kentucky in 2010 claimed 419,853 tickets sold or given away.
The French organizers declared this WEG “the most successful” ever with the number of countries competing up by 25 per cent compared with 2010 and television audiences peaking at more than 500 million viewers.
The most popular events by far were the three Olympic disciplines–jumping with 110,000 spectators over five days, eventing with 94,600 spectators and dressage with 83,000 spectators, both over four days.
A record number of 1,750 journalists from 52 countries were accredited for the Games, that the organizers said “augurs well” for the championships in Bromont, Canada in 2018.
Alltech, based in Kentucky and title sponsor of the Normandy Games as well as Kentucky, said it has not yet decided whether to be a sponsor at Bromont, about 55 miles (88km) from Montreal and the site of the 1976 Olympic equestrian competition.
The numbers:
–984 athletes
–1,243 horses
–74 nations
Spectators:
Jumping: 110,000 spectators over 5 days
Eventing: 94,600 over 4 days
Dressage: 83,000 over 4 days
Vaulting: 33,300 over 4 days
Driving: 31,700 over 4 days
Endurance: 6,000
Para-Dressage N/A
The medals tally:
| Medals 2014 Normandy – France | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 |  Great Britain | 7 | 6 | 2 | 15 |
| 2 |  Netherlands | 6 | 3 | 9 | 18 |
| 3 |  Germany | 5 | 7 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 |  United states | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 |  Belgium | 2 | 1 | – | 3 |
| 6 |  France | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 |  Austria | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 |  Italy | 1 | 2 | – | 3 |
| 9 |  Australia | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 9 |  Spain | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 9 |  United arab emirates | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 12 |  Switzerland | – | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 13 |  Canada | – | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 |  Denmark | – | – | 2 | 2 |
| 15 |  Hungary | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| 15 |  Qatar | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| 15 |  Singapore | – | – | 1 | 1 |
