At the 2013 Global Dressage Forum in Hooge Mierde, The Netherlands, FEI Dressage Director Trond Asmyr disclosed the qualification system for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games which the FEI Dressage Committee will propose for voting at the 2013 FEI General Assembly in Montreux, Switzerland.
The qualifcation system for dressage is:
The Minimum Eligibility Standard is defined as following:
- To be eligible to participate in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, all athletes/horses must achieve the
following minimum eligibility requirement as a combination:
A minimum 64% must be attributed twice to the athlete/horse combination by both a 5* star judge and as an average from all judges in the competition, and the score must be achieved in a Grand Prix test at two different CDI3*/CDI4*/CDI5*/CDI-W/CDIO events. The two 5* judges must be of a nationality other than of the athlete. Scores achieved in Preliminary or Consolation Grand Prix classes judged by three Judges do not count towards the minimum eligibility requirement.
Athletes and horses must obtain the minimum eligibility requirement at events which take place from 1 January 2015 until 20 June 2016.
Team Qualification
10 NOCs will be “directly” (see note below) qualified to take part with a team consisting of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 4 athletes and 3 horses:
- 4 places: The Host nation (BRA) - In case the host nation is unable to field a team it may send 1 or 2 eligible individuals instead.
- 12 places: The 3 best ranked teams from the 2014 World Equestrian Games (WEG) excluding the team qualified above.
- 12 places: The 3 best ranked teams from the 2015 European Championship from FEI Olympic Groups A, B & C excluding teams qualified above.
- 4 places: The 1 best ranked team from FEI Olympic Groups D & E of the 2015 Pan-American Games, excluding the teams qualified above.
- 4 places: Only if FEI Olympic Groups F and/or G have not yet qualified a team above, the 1 best ranked team from Olympic Group F or G at the 2014 World Equestrian Games (WEG) is directly qualified.
If not allocated, this team slot will be added to the 2014 World Equestrian Games so that the 4 best ranked teams from the 2014 World Equestrian Games are directly qualified. - 4 places: The 1 best ranked team from (at the FEI approved special qualification event, excluding the teams qualified above)
- FEI Olympic Group F or
- FEI Olympic Group G or
- FEI Olympic Group C countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
Total: 10 Teams / 40 Athletes
+ "composite qualified teams
- “Direct” qualification is achieved during the Team Championships.
- “Composite” qualified Teams: teams are made up of minimum 3 to a maximum of 4 individuals qualified from the same nation from the Olympic Rider rankings to make up a team.
- The total number of teams participating in the team competition including the “composite teams” may finally exceed 10.
Individual Qualification
- 6 places
- The NOCs of the 2 highest ranked individuals from FEI Olympic Groups A, B & C in the Grand Prix at the 2015 European Championships, excluding NOCs already qualified with a team.
- The NOCs of the 2 highest ranked individuals from FEI Olympic Groups D & E in the Grand Prix at the 2015 Pan-American Games, excluding NOCs already qualified with a team.
- The NOCs of the 2 highest ranked individuals from FEI Olympic Groups F & G in the Grand Prix at the FEI approved special qualification event, excluding NOCs already qualified with a team.
In case an NOC(s) is unable to use the allocated quota slot, it will be re-allocated to the NOC of the next highest ranked individual athlete in the respective event. Only if none of the NOCs with athletes ranked in the respective events is able to use the quota slot, it will be added to the completion of quota. - 7 places: The NOC of the competitor placed first in the FEI Olympic Athletes Ranking – Dressage which has not yet obtained a “direct” quota place for teams will obtain an individual quota place for each of the following groups:
A - North Western Europe
B - South Western Europe
C - Central & Eastern Europe; Central Asia
D - North America
E - Central & South America
F - Africa & Middle East
G - South East Asia, Oceania
In case the NOC of the first placed athlete in the respective group is unable to use the allocated quota slot, it will be re-allocated to the NOC of the second placed athlete within the group. If still unused the slot will be re-allocated to the NOC of the third placed athlete, and so on. Only if none of the NOCs with athletes ranked in the respective group is able to use the quota slot, it will be added to the completion of quota. - 7 places: The completion of the quota, either to fill up the quota places available or following the cancellation of team or individual entries by an NOC, will be achieved by taking the athletes in their order of classification in the FEI Olympic Ranking Athletes - Dressage to reach a total of 60 athletes. The ranking will not include:
- the athletes from NOCs which have qualified a team
- the athletes that qualified an individual slot for their FEI Olympic Group as per the above.
An NOC may qualify max 4 athletes/horses.
Total: 20 athletes
FEI Olympic Athletes Ranking - Dressage
The point system to be used for establishing the FEI Olympic Athletes Ranking – Dressage, will be published by 1 January 2015 and distributed to NOCs/NFs.
This list is limited to the best 8 results per athlete/horse combination in events within the period from 9 March 2015 to 7 March 2016.
Host Country Places
The host country is automatically qualified with a team. Each athlete and horse must obtain the minimum eligibility standard to be confirmed to compete
Confirmation process for quota places
The FEI will inform NOCs/NFs in writing on 8 March 2016 of their qualification of team and/or individual quota places. Eligible NOCs must inform the FEI in writing by 31 March 2016 whether or not they intend to use their allocated quota place.
Following each qualification event, FEI will publish the results on its website (link to Results on FEI website).
Reallocation of unused quote places
Unused team quota places
If the members of a qualified team do not reach the minimum eligibility standard or an NOC decides not to use the team quota place obtained by xx June 2016:
1. The NOC in question may then compete with a maximum of 2 Individuals.
2. The unused quota place(s) will go to the next best ranked NOC on the FEI Olympic Athletes Ranking – Dressage, unless stated otherwise above.
Unused individual quota places
Should an NOC not use quota place(s) for individuals, the available quota places will be reallocated to the NOC of the next highest ranked eligible athlete on the FEI Olympic Athletes Ranking – Dressage of 7 March 2016, unless stated otherwise above. The same athlete cannot qualify an NOC for more than one individual place.
By 15 April 2016 FEI will reallocate available places.
Reallocation of Unused Host Country Places
In case the host nation is unable to field a team, the team slot will be reallocated to the highest ranked team on the Team Ranking of the 2015 Pan-American Games not already qualified. If the host nation then decides to send 1 or 2 individuals instead of a team, the total number of individuals that can qualify by means of the FEI Olympic Ranking List Dressage will be reduced by the number of individual athletes of the host nation (1 or 2).
Related Link
2016 Olympic Selection Criteria and Updated Blood Rule Revealed at 2013 Global Dressage Forum