Sydney CDI Opens the Gates for Olympic Hopefuls

In just over a year, the Olympic torch will light the caldron in London and the 2012 Olympic Games will commence. The best riders in the world will compete against each other for a medal. All competitors have done the hard yards. They have sacrificed many things and gone through a rigorous selection process. To qualify, all riders will have to have scored the Minimum Eligibility Score (MES) twice at CDI level. The MES is 64 per cent from two different 5-Star Judges of a different nationality at two different events provided the overall score from all five judges is also at least 64 per cent.

Australia is yet to qualify a team and will need to participate in an FEI-nominated event in Europe to achieve this. The two best-performing nations from Olympic Groups F and G (Africa, Middle East, Asia and Oceania) will get a spot for London. The main contenders for this region are Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.

The Sydney CDI will be influential for individual riders as it will have two ‘foreign’ FEI 5* judges – Dieter Schüle from Germany and Mariette Withages from Belgium – in addition to Australia’s own Mary Seefried. This means the selectors will be looking closely at the results.

Equestrian Australia’s current National Elite Squad consists of Brett Parbery on Victoria Salute (pictured), Heath Ryan on Regardez Moi, Rozzie Ryan and Jive Magic and Lyndal Oatley on Potifar (Lyndal is married to Patrick Kittel from Sweden). Hayley Beresford and Relampago are on the Elite Holding Squad as the combination is currently not competing.

Another combination to watch is two-time Olympian Mary Hanna. Mary has recently purchased the horse Sancette from Steffen Peters and is hoping to be selected for the 2012 Olympic Games. Mary has a number of Grand Prix horses, which she competes on with her daughter Gitte Donvig. Mary’s second horse Umbro is also showing great consistency.

The next eight months will give Australia’s elite riders the opportunity to place themselves up for selection and the Sydney CDI 3* will put them in the limelight.

All details on the event are available at www.sydneycdi.com.au