Edited press release from FEI written by Louise Parkes

The build-up to the 19th Pan American Games is at boiling point this week, and for Chile it is a very special moment as the country which is renowned for its stunning natural beauty, unique cultural traditions and rich history welcomes athletes from all across the Americas for the very first time. 

From 20 October to 5 November the capital city of Santiago will take centre stage as more than 6,000 of the best athletes on the continent compete across 38 sports, with qualification for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games adding an extra edge to the tension and excitement.

The countries that have previously hosted the Pan American Games are Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, the United States of America and Venezuela. The Games always take place the year ahead of the Olympics, and in equestrian sport there are three Olympic qualifying spots on offer in jumping and two each in dressage and eventing, all of which will be hotly contested again this time around.  

The participating nations this year include Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, USA, Uruguay and Venezuela while the two athletes from Guatemala will compete under a Neutral PS Flag.

The 2023 equestrian venue is at the Escuela de Equitación Regimiento Granaderos in Quillota, a traditional army compound in the Valparaiso region that lies in the foothills of Chile’s coastal mountain range. Quillota is located 126 km from Santiago city, and the action gets underway with dressage next Sunday, 22 October. 

A total of 18 nations, nine with teams and nine with individuals, and a maximum of 47 starters will line out in jumping.

It was Brazil, Mexico and USA that clinched team gold, silver and bronze in Lima four years ago, Marlon Zanotelli and Sirene de la Motte (Apache d'Adriers x Uriel d'Orval), Eduardo Menezes and HS Chaganus (Chacco-Blue x Carthago Z), Rodrigo Lambre and Chacciama (Chacco-Blue x Andiamo Z) and Pedro Veniss aboard Quabri de l’Isle (Kannan x Socrate de Chivre) bringing it home for the Brazilian champions. It was a really close contest for silver and bronze.

Zanotelli went on to take the individual title for Brazil ahead of Argentina’s Jose Maria Larocca and Finn Lente (Gaillard de la Pomme x Colandro) in silver and America’s Beezie Madden and Breitling LS (Quintero Ask x Acord II) in bronze while Brazil, Mexico and Argentina claimed the three jumping qualification spots on offer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

USA has won the Pan American jumping team title on seven occasions and Brazil has won it six times, while Americans have also racked up six individual victories. Chile made its mark in these Games at the inaugural event in 1951 when Alberto Larraguibel, César Mendoza, Ricardo Echeverria and Joaquin Larrain claimed the team title and Capt Larraguibel steered Julepe to take individual gold.

At the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games the countries chasing qualification for Paris 2024 will be Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay and USA.

The competition timetable for jumping is:

29 October -  Horse inspection
30 October -  Training
31 October -  First individual and team competition
1 November - Second competition round 1, second competition round 2 (team final and individual qualifier). Team medal ceremony.
2 November - Second horse inspection
3 November - Third competition round 1, third competition round 2 (individual final). Individual medal ceremony.

Check out the full list of jumping entries here

You can follow the action across all three disciplines on FEI.TV.

More about the equestrian events at the Pan American Games 2023 in Santiago (CHI) here.