Text © World of Showjumping

The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, have kicked off – with the showjumping taking place at Château de Versailles between 1-6 August.

A total of 75 horse-and-rider combinations will be competing in jumping at the 2024 Olympic Games, with a maximum of 20 alternate pairs present in Versailles as well. Twenty nations have qualified with teams, while a further fifteen nations have individuals competing. Like in Tokyo in 2021, a team consists of three competing horse-and-rider combinations and each result counts; there is no drop-score.

The nations competing for team medals include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, United Arab Emirates and USA.

Additionally, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Syria, Thailand and Venezuela are competing for individual glory.

Each team is entitled to one reserve and a pre-competition change is allowed between the end of the team final until two hours prior to the start of the individual qualifier, while a substitution can be made between the team qualifier and the team final – although subject to specific conditions as per article 609.1 and 609.2 as well as article 630.4 in the FEI Regulations for Equestrian Events at the Olympic Games.

The schedule for the jumping is as follows:

July 30 Arrival

July 31 First horse inspection and training session

August 1 Team qualifier

August 2 Team final and the first medal ceremony

August 3 Second horse inspection

August 4 Training session

August 5 Individual qualifier

August 6 Individual final and the second medal ceremony

On 30 July, the jumping horses arrive in Versailles and the first horse inspection takes place in the morning of 31 July, followed by a training session in the evening. The team qualifier takes place on 1 August, followed by the team final and the first medal ceremony on 2 August. The second horse inspection is scheduled for 3 August, followed by a training session on 4 August and the individual qualifier on 5 August, while the 2024 Olympic Champion will be crowned on 6 August during the individual final.

The team qualifier for the 20 teams takes place on 1 August and is a Table A against the clock (FEI Jumping Rules art. 238.2.1). The course will count 12-14 obstacles and a maximum of 17 efforts with the fences set to a height of 1.40-1.65m. The starting order will be determined by a draw and the teams will be placed by adding together the penalties and time incurred by the three horse-and-rider combinations on each team. In case of a disqualification of any of the pairs, the entire team will be disqualified.

The best ten teams from the qualifier compete in the final on 2 August, where they start on zero penalties. The team final is judged as a Table A against the clock (FEI Jumping Rules art. 238.2.1) over one round, with a jump-off against the clock in case of equality of penalties for first place or respective medal placings. The course will count 12-14 obstacles and a maximum of 18 efforts, with the fences set to the height of 1.40-1.65m. The starting order in the team final will be in the reverse order of the classification from the qualifier.

After the first two pairs for each team have jumped, there will be a 20-minute break and an intermediate classification is made. The formula used will combine the penalties and time incurred by the first two horse-and-rider combinations of each team to determine the starting order of the anchor pairs; the leading team’s third horse-and-rider combination will start last.

Teams are placed according to the combined penalties and time by their three pairs. In case of a tie on penalties for first place or for the respective medal placings, there will be a jump-off against the clock where all three pairs take part in the same rotation as in the final round. The 2024 Olympic champion is the team with the least penalties in the fastest combined time of their three pairs.

The individual qualifier on 5 August is open to 75 starters with a maximum of three horse-and-rider combinations per nation, and the starting order is determined by a draw.

The individual qualifier is judged as a Table A against the clock without a jump-off (FEI Jumping Rules art. 238.2.1). The course will count 12-14 obstacles and a maximum of 17 efforts with the fences set to a height of 1.40m-1.65m.

The 2024 Olympic champion will be crowned on 6 August after a final that is open to the 30 best horse-and-rider combinations from the individual qualifier. Judged as a Table A against the clock (FEI Jumping Rules art. 238.2.2) with a jump-off, the final course will count 12-15 obstacles and a maximum of 19 efforts with the fences set to a height of 1.40-1.65m. The 30 best pairs that are qualified for the final all start on a score of zero, and the starting order is the reverse of the classification from the individual qualifier.