Branna
Well-Known Member
The comparison with the eventing format is a really interesting one - I think those of us who have followed the debates over changes to the Olympic format over the last 4-5 years would have expected the resulting "bad pictures" of the sport to have come in the eventing XC and not the pure SJ!
I wonder how much comes down to 2 factors
1) the expectation that something is more likely to go wrong in eventing, and therefore the anticipation that a team member may be eliminated or have to retire - I doubt there are many hard conversations had between SJ team members/trainers about potentially having to retire.
2) the fact that over an 8 minute XC course, if a horse has repeated bad jumps they will be flagged by the ground jury to retire (I don't think this actually happened in Tokyo but has at World Games etc. before) - some of the incidents in the SJ would have been avoided had the judges rung the bell when it was clear the horse wasn't coping.
I think the eventers seem to have just prepared themselves much better than the showjumpers for the new format!
After the years of debates I don't think there is any chance at all of going back to 4 in a team in the SJ. If they tried to implement it the eventing would also push for 4 in a team on horse welfare grounds and the problem of fewer flags returned.
For anyone interested, a few examples from Pippa Cuckson over the last few years covering the 3 in a team debate at the FEI Sports Forum 2016 & beyond.
https://horsesport.com/cuckson-report-1/threes-a-charm/
https://horsesport.com/cuckson-report-1/olympic-format-change-it-isnt-over-yet/
https://horsesport.com/cuckson-report-1/eventing-draws-short-straw-yet/
I wonder how much comes down to 2 factors
1) the expectation that something is more likely to go wrong in eventing, and therefore the anticipation that a team member may be eliminated or have to retire - I doubt there are many hard conversations had between SJ team members/trainers about potentially having to retire.
2) the fact that over an 8 minute XC course, if a horse has repeated bad jumps they will be flagged by the ground jury to retire (I don't think this actually happened in Tokyo but has at World Games etc. before) - some of the incidents in the SJ would have been avoided had the judges rung the bell when it was clear the horse wasn't coping.
I think the eventers seem to have just prepared themselves much better than the showjumpers for the new format!
After the years of debates I don't think there is any chance at all of going back to 4 in a team in the SJ. If they tried to implement it the eventing would also push for 4 in a team on horse welfare grounds and the problem of fewer flags returned.
For anyone interested, a few examples from Pippa Cuckson over the last few years covering the 3 in a team debate at the FEI Sports Forum 2016 & beyond.
https://horsesport.com/cuckson-report-1/threes-a-charm/
https://horsesport.com/cuckson-report-1/olympic-format-change-it-isnt-over-yet/
https://horsesport.com/cuckson-report-1/eventing-draws-short-straw-yet/