The team

eventing Eventing (also known as three-day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where the same horse and rider combination compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

is scheduled to take place from 30 July to 2 August 2021 at the Baji Koen and Sea Forest Cross-Country Course. Like all other

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

events, the eventing competition is open-gender, with both male and female athletes competing in the same division. 45 riders (15 teams of 3) from 15 nations are expected to compete.

Background

This will be the 25th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics since it was introduced in 1912. The reigning Olympic champion is France ( Karim Laghouag, Thibaut Vallette, Mathieu Lemoine, and

Astier Nicolas Astier Nicolas (born 19 January 1989) is a French equestrian. He represented his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he won the gold medal in the team eventing and the silver in the individual eventing. Biography Astier Nicolas started h ...

). The reigning (2018) World Champion is Great Britain (

Rosalind Canter Rosalind Canter (born 13 January 1986) is a British equestrian who competes in eventing. She is the 2018 World Champion. On Monday, 8 May 2023 and Sunday, 11 May 2025 she won the Badminton Horse Trials riding Lordships Graffalo both times. She ...

, Piggy French, Tom McEwen, and

Gemma Tattersall Gemma Tattersall (born 12 March 1985) is a British Olympic eventing rider. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro where she finished 41st in the individual An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individualit ...

). An Olympics.com preview of equestrian (all events) provided the following overview:

Qualification

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

(NOC) could enter 1 team of 3 riders in the team event. Quota places are allocated to the NOC, which selects the riders. There were 15 team quota places available, allocated as follows: * Host nation: Japan was guaranteed a team * World Games: The top 6 teams at the

2018 FEI World Equestrian Games The 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games were held in Mill Spring, North Carolina, U.S. at the Tryon International Equestrian Center, from September 11 to September 23, 2018. It was the eighth edition of the games, which are held every four years a ...

, excluding Japan * European Championships: The top 2 teams from the

2019 FEI European Championships The 2019 FEI European Championships was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from 19 to 25 August 2019. Competitions was held in three disciplines; jumping, dressage and para-dressage Para-equestrian is an equestrian sport governed by the Interna ...

, in geographic groups A and B (Northwest and Southwest Europe) * Group C event: The top team from a group C (Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia) qualification event * Pan American Games: The top 2 teams from the 2019 Pan-American Games, with groups D and E covering North, Central, and South America * Groups F/G event: The top 2 teams from a groups F and G (Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Oceania) qualification event * Nations Cup: The top team from the 2019 Eventing Nations Cup Final, changed to the highest ranked team in the 2019 Eventing Nations Cup Series

Competition format

The eventing competition features all 45 riders competing in three rounds (dressage, cross-country, and jumping). Scores from all 3 riders on each team are summed to give a team score; the number of team members was reduced from 4 in 2016 to 3, with there no longer being a dropped score. * Dressage test: A shortened

dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...

competition, with penalties based on the dressage score * Cross-country test: A race over a 4.5 kilometre cross-country course. The time allotted is 8 minutes (570 metres per minute), with penalties assessed for exceeding that time. There are a maximum of 38 obstacles, with penalties assessed for faults. Staggered starts. * Jumping test: A 600-metre

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...

course, with 11 or 12 obstacles (including double and triple jumps, with a maximum of 16 jumps total). Maximum height of obstacles is 1.25 metres. The required speed is 375 metres/minute (time limit of 1:36). Penalties are assessed for exceeding the time limit and for faults at the obstacles.

Schedule

The event takes place over four days, with two days for the dressage followed by cross-country and jumping on the next two days. All times are

Japan Standard Time , or , is the standard time zone in Japan, 9 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+09:00). Japan does not observe daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated on several occasions. During World War II, the time zone was often referred to a ...

(

UTC+9 UTC+09:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +09:00. During the Japanese occupations of British Borneo, Burma, Hong Kong, Dutch East Indies, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, and French Indochina, it was used as a common time with ...

Results

Standings after dressage

At the end of the two days of

, Olympic champions Germany and World champions Great Britain had already broken away from the pack, with Germany, for the first time since 2008, not in the lead after the first discipline

Standings after cross-country

Germany suffered a nightmare cross country, with over 34 points in penalties all but knocking them out of medal contention, and ending the defense of their Olympic title. Great Britain, by contrast, backed up their earlier excellent dressage work with a faultless cross-country, posting three of only seven clear rounds all day, which gave them a huge 18 point lead going into the final discipline, the showjumping, equivalent to four posts down. Australia and France took advantage of Germany's disaster to move into medal position, and clear of the pack.

Final standings (after jumping)

Despite three clear rounds from the defending champions Germany lifting them to fourth, the medal positions remained unchanged as Great Britain won Olympic team eventing gold for the first time since 1972. a gap of 49 years. Australia took silver, with France taking the bronze medals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Equestrian at the 2020 Summer Olympics - Team eventing Team eventing