The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2022 – the 42nd final in the history of the series that began in 1978 – kicks off on Thursday in Leipzig, Germany.

"First of all, our main goal was to have a final after two years without one," Stephan Ellenbruch, Chair of the FEI Jumping Committee, told the press ahead of Thursday's first competition, reflecting on the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2021-2022 season which saw three leagues completely cancelled. "We were really happy that Volker Wulff and Engarde were supportive and sitting in the same boat right from the first moment and we agreed that we should see to that we have a final. Then, we were optimistic that we could run a normal World Cup season, which started good but suddenly the virus came back, and shows were cancelled. That of course had an influence on the qualification, because not all riders who wanted to qualify were able to start at the beginning of the season. Those who could start at the first shows had the opportunity to do so and those who were planning to start later, could not compete – and you can only gain points if you do a qualifier." 

"We have a fixed number of riders, who in theory could have qualified with more than one horse," Ellenbruch continued to explain about the qualification system for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final. "There are four riders here in Leipzig who have two horses entered. All entered horses must be eligible to compete – meaning they must have completed a World Cup qualifier during the qualification season. The format for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final is interesting. Here in Leipzig, we have 35 competitors with entered horses and this is the starting point for our calculation on how to find the World Cup Final winner: The winner of the first competition gets as many points as there are starters in the class, so here in Leipzig 35 + 1. For the second competition, the points are the same regardless of the number of starters, so even if less than 35 come back for the second day, the maximum points are the same. The second placed rider gets 35 - 1 and then it goes down one point less from there. These points will be converted into penalties after two days, and the one in the lead after two days starts on zero in the final, where the 30 best are eligible to compete." 

The first part of the final is a 1.60m Table C, which takes place on Thursday. 

On Friday, the riders will compete in a Table A class set at 1.50m-1.60m with a jump-off. 

In the first two competitions, points are given to all riders who finish the initial round. The winner of each competition gets one point more than the number of starters, in Leipzig 35 +1, while the second placed gets two points less than the winner, in Leipzig 35 -1, the third placed one point less than the second placed and so on. 

After the second competition, points are transformed into penalties. The rider with the highest number of points after two competitions will start Sunday’s final on zero penalties. For those who follow, the number of penalties will be calculated by multiplying the difference between their number of points and the points of the leading rider after two competitions with 0.5.

The third and final competition over two rounds takes place on Sunday and the 30 best from the first two days are qualified for the first round. Ahead of the final day, a second veterinary inspection will take place to ensure that all the horses are fit to compete. 

The 20 best will qualify for the second round on Sunday. Riders with a clear score in the first round are allowed to start in the second round, even if their total score does not bring them into the top 20: They can still compete for the classification and prize money of the competition itself, and their score in the second round will not be taken into consideration when calculating their position in the overall ranking of the final.

The winner of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2022 is the rider who after all rounds has the least penalties. If two or more riders should have the same amount of penalties, there will be a jump-off for the victory.