From 1 October 2011 until 31 December 2012 the new short Olympic Grand Prix Special will be used for all shows that have a Grand Prix Speical test. This new Special test will be mandatory from the 1 October 2011 for all big tour shows.
The Grand Prix Special test has been revamped to a new format to accommodate the wishes of the International Olympic Committee who wanted to have the test shortened to keep the class attractive for television broadcast.
The FEI Dressage Committee voted on a new Olympic format for the 2012 Games in which teams will have 3 riders and 1 individual and two tests (Grand Prix and Special) counting for the medal in the team competition. This new system will allow 32 riders to make it to the Special instead of the original 25. The side-effect was that a new Grand Prix Special test had to be designed.
At the 2010 Global Dressage Forum, IDRC president Kyra Kyrklund publicly opposed the new Olympic format which she considered detrimental for smaller dressage nations. The big nations will see more riders go through for the individual medal, while upcoming stars from small countries will have to fight harder to capture a spot in the top 32.
"The entire format was sold to the riders with the guarantee for 36 riders," Kyrklund stated at the time. "More teams and more riders. Now we only get 32 and need a new Grand Prix Special test because we didn't get the time for a long GPS class. You keep the quality up, but you go down as it will hit hard on individual riders. Not all countries can come up with a team and those that can will have a weaker fourth team rider who will get a bigger chance. If you want to keep the sport global, you'll have to allow individuals to come in first."
The new Olympic Grand Prix Special Test can be viewed here.
Photo © Astrid Appels
Related Link
Making Progress at the 2010 Global Dressage Forum