It was back in mid-July 2023 that Lauren Balcomb, Hilary Scott, Christopher Burton and Edwina Tops-Alexander made up the team that won an event against three other countries at Valkenswaard to secure a place for Australia in the Teams Jumping Competition at Paris 2024. At the time, our thoughts were that the Olympics were so far away, however, the time has flown and here we are, just a day away from the start of the competition.

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To say that we are excited to see how Australia performs on the world’s highest stage is an understatement and we thought we would take this opportunity to run through the details of how the competitions, both team and individual, will work.

The horses arrived on Tuesday 30 July, having made the trek of a little over 400 km from Stal Tops on the southern edge of the Netherlands. Early today, the first horse inspection (trot-up) took place, with all horses passing with flying colours.

Above: Edwina Tops-Alexander and Fellow Castlefield.

Commencing at 5:15 pm CEST, (1:15 am AEST on Thursday) each combination had the opportunity to participate in a practice round on the main arena at Versailles. With 20 teams, each with three combinations, this is anticipated to take almost 3 hours.

Above: Thaisa Erwin and Hialita B

Above: Hilary Scott and Milky Way

Above: Edwina Tops-Alexander and Fellow Castlefield

Above: Amber Fuller and Nopal van Tallaert.

The team qualifying competition is scheduled to start on Thursday 1 August at 11:00 am local time (7:00 pm AEST), when each team will be vying for a spot in the top 10 to secure a place in the final the following day. Any countries that might be tied for tenth place will also go through to the final.

Our team consists of Thaisa Erwin and Hialita B, Edwina Tops-Alexander and Fellow Castlefield and Hilary Scott and Milky Way. Amber Fuller and Nopal Van Tallaert have been named as the alternate athletes.

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There is a contingency should there be any last-minute injuries or illness to any of the horses or riders where the alternate athletes will come into the team. Decisions in this regard may be made up to 2 hours before the starting time of the Team Qualifier.

For the 10 teams who qualify for the Teams Final, a single substitution may be made up to two hours before the Team Final. However, unlike before the competition, there are a number of rules around substitutions at this time and they need to be supported by medical or veterinary certificates.

Unlike Olympic Games held in the past and certainly many recent Nation’s Cup Events, there is no drop-score rule. The scores achieved by each combination will contribute to the team score without regard for how well or how poorly each combination performs. A withdrawal or elimination will almost certainly see the end of that team’s quest for gold.

The Team Final is scheduled for Friday 2 August at 2:00 pm local time (10:00 pm AEST). The 10 teams who make the Final all re-start on zero penalties and compete over one round, with a jump-off, only in the case that there is an equality of penalties for first place. The teams Jumping medal ceremony will follow shortly after the action finishes.

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There is a two-day break before the Individual Jumping Competition commences. Over the course of these two days, there will be a trot-up session as well as a practice session on the main arena for 75 combinations. Here, once again Chefs may make changes to the combinations involved, should injury, illness or form dictate. There will be the 60 combinations from the Teams Competition (no more than three combinations per country), joined by 15 combinations from countries that did not get a team quota spot.

The Individual Qualifying competition will take place on Monday 5 August at 2:00 pm local time (10:00 pm AEST) and will run for about four hours. The competition will be fierce, with only the top 30 combinations qualifying to compete the following day in the Individual Final.

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When that final commences on Tuesday 6 August at 10:00 am local time (6:00 pm AEST), all 30 combinations will start on zero penalties and each tackle the course in reverse seeded order. Should there be an equality of penalties in the gold medal position, a jump-off will follow. Should, for any reason a combination that qualified for the Individual Final be unable to start, then the next best placed combination(s) from the Individual Qualifier will get a start.

The course designer role will be a co-operative effort between Santiago Varela from Spain who has over 10 year’s experience as a Level 4 designer and Gregory Bodo from France.

We would like to wish our team the very best of luck over the coming week of competition and look forward to tracking and reporting on their progress.