Tokyo 2020 The Journey Starts Now.

Athletes all over the world are competing and trying to get scores, win races, train intensively and make it onto their nation’s teams to represent their countries at the Tokyo Olympics. Dressage riders are no exception. This winter in South Florida there are many with hopes of Tokyo. I will be following the Canadians and doing interviews with some of the Olympic hopefuls.

But first I want to tell you about some of the paperwork,form filling and regulatory mazes that these riders, their horse’s owners and sponsors will have to go through. I do not know exactly what other countries require but here is what Equestrian Canada asks for. I have taken this information from the Equestrian Canada website.

The Qualification Period (QP) for the 2020 OG shall run from January 1st, 2020 to June 8th, 2020,inclusive. Qualification of athlete/horse combinations for the 2020 OG will consist of a four stage process:

Stage One – Declaration

Stage Two – FEI Certificate of Capability

Stage Three – Qualification Score Requirements

Stage Four – Fitness Inspections

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Stage One – Declaration

 As a condition of declaration for the 2020 OG, an athlete must fulfil the following eligibility conditions:

Must have submitted the 2020 OG Declaration and non-refundable declaration fee of $400.00 CAD per athlete through the EC Portal on or before the declaration deadline December 2, 2019, Exception see Section 3.7 of the Dressage Nomination Criteria & Procedures.Declared athletes who subsequently choose to withdraw from the nomination process (either themselves or their horse) prior to the naming of the team and alternates, must advise the HPAG of their decision in writing. Athletes must inform the HPAG the rationale for their decision to withdraw either themselves or their horse from consideration. Meetings may be scheduled between the athlete and the HPAG to fully examine the decision prior to the withdrawal being accepted by the HPAG.

Stage Two – FEI Certificate of Capability

Additional IF Eligibility Criteria: To be eligible to participate in the 2020 OG Dressage Competitions, all Athletes/Horses must achieve, as a combination, the Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MER) at selected events which take place from 1 January 2019 until (and including) 1 June 2020 A minimum 66% must be attributed twice to the Athlete/Horse combination by both a 5*star judge and as an average from all judges in the competition, and the score must be achieved in a Grand Prix test at two different CDI3*/CDI4*/CDI5*/CDI-W/CDIO events. The two 5* judges must be of a nationality other than of the Athlete.Scores achieved in Preliminary or Consolation Grand Prix classes judged by three Judges do not count towards the minimum eligibility requirement.

Stage Three –Qualification Score Requirements

Qualification scores must be achieved at CDI3*, or higher, competitions within the Qualification Period. A minimum of one qualification score must be achieved in a CDI4*, CDI5* or CDI-W competition. Scores achieved at CDI-AM (Amateur) competitions will not be considered. All qualification scores must be achieved from a panel of at least five FEI judges. Athlete/horse combinations must compete in a minimum of four (4) Grand Prix, plus three (3) Grand Prix Special classes during the QP in order to be considered for nomination. A minimum of one Grand Prix and one Grand Prix Special score must be achieved after April 1st, 2020 and count towards your final ranking average. In addition at least one qualification score achieved from a CDI4*, CDI5*or CDI-W must count towards your final ranking. Scores achieved in the FEI Developing Grand Prix test will not be considered for nomination. In addition Athlete / horse combinations must compete in a minimum of one (1) Grand Prix Freestyle class during the QP in order to be considered for nomination. The submitted Freestyle score will not be used as a nomination score except in the case of breaking a tie. Ties: In the event of a tie between any two or more athlete/horse combinations the combination with the highest Freestyle score shall break the tie.

Stage Four – Fitness Inspections Physician Assessment. As part of the nomination process the advice from the Team Physician, if so required, will be taken into consideration to ensure athletes considered for selection are healthy and fit-to-compete.Veterinary Assessment It is of paramount importance that the horse be serviceable and that the welfare of the horse be protected at all times.

So there you have it. It is quite a process and for the declaration the riders and owners must have passports and Canadian nationality. Horses must have FEI passports and be FEI eligible . The season for gaining qualifying scores has already started here in Florida with numerous CDI competitions at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington.

I will be starting next week with an interview with Olympian Megan Lane who rode for Canada in Rio 2016. I hope you will tune in!