The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2023 format explained

Text © World of Showjumping

The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2023 at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, USA, kicks off on Monday with the horse inspection, followed by an official training session on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the first part of the final is a 1.60m Table C over a Table A course. This course should not have the character of a Table C "Speed and Handiness", but rather a type Table A course with bigger fences. The courses in Omaha will be designed by the Portuguese Level 4 course designer Bernardo Costa Cabral.

On Thursday, 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, while the second placed gets two points less than the winner, 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 Saturday’s final on zero penalties. For the following riders, 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.

While Friday is a day off, the third and final competition over two rounds takes place on Saturday and the 30 best from the first two competitions 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 from Saturday's first round qualify for the second and final round. 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 2023 is the rider who after all rounds has the least penalties. If two or more riders should end up with the same amount of penalties, there will be a jump-off for the victory.