The FEI has notified Equestrian Australia of the outcome of the Judges Supervisory Panel (JSP) review of the CDI3* Grand Prix competition at 2022 CDI Bawley Point, hosted at Willinga Park on 25 February 2022.
JSP MER-Review Due to Covid Travel Restrictions for Foreign Judges
The JSP examined the CDI3* Grand Prix results in accordance with the FEI Board Resolution dated 21st October 2021 (available here), which states that "two members of the JSP will be appointed by the FEI to conduct the real-time on-line supervision of the competition."
This exemption was granted last year to allow Australian and New Zealand CDI competition results to count toward an athlete's FEI World Dressage Championship 2022 'Minimum Eligibility Requirement,' despite organising committees being unable to secure 5* Foreign Judges owing to border closures caused by Covid-19.
In accordance with this resolution, the JSP has assumed the position of the 5* Foreign Judge, with the authority on behalf of the FEI to make the final decision regarding the granting of MER scores.
Eight Scores over 66%, Just 3 Count as MER
Notwithstanding the results given by the judges on site at Willinga Park, which saw eight (8) combinations score above the required 66%, the JSP confirmed that only three (3) results can be considered for the purpose of (partially) fulfilling the qualification criteria for the FEI Dressage World Championships 2022: • Mary Hanna on Syriana. (AUS) 72.239% • John Thompson on Chemistry. (NZL) 69.478% • Jayden Brown on Senator Nymphenburg. (AUS) 67.652%
In order to gain a full MER combinations need to achieve two scores above 66% at a CDI3*/CDI4*/CDI5*/CDI-W or CDIO events before the qualification deadline. Full qualification criteria can be found here.
Following the completion of the Willinga Park CDI3* competition, the Ground Jury met online with the JSP for a debriefing session, during which the JSP informed the judges which scores would be validated. The outcome of the review process has also been communicated to the riders directly.
Three MERs Awarded at CDI Boneo
In January international dressage competition kicked off in Australia after a two-year break due to Covid. The first CDI show was at Boneo Park where the JSP was also put in place to oversee the judging as not enough foreign judges were able to travel to Australia due travel restrictions.
For the 2022 CDI Boneo, the FEI made a special rule to achieve MER in Australia: "Given the on-going pandemic and in relation to the COVID19 Resolutions accepted by the FEI Board, as an exception to Articles 437.8 and 437.9.8 of the FEI Dressage Rules and to the MERs, the results of combinations competing in the CDI3* will only count as MER for the 2022 Dressage World Championships upon formal approval of the appointed JSP member(s) who will overview the results live."
At Boneo Park, only the top three results of the six 66% marks that were given - ended up being validated as MER scores two weeks after the show took place, which led to upheaval from the riders who had posted over 66%. The difference between the third and fourth placed rider at Boneo was just 0.3% but the fourth placed rider did not get her MER (3. John Thompson - Chemistry - 69.957% / 4. Pauline Carnovale - Captain Cooks - 69.348%).
Special MER Rule Withdrawn
Equestrian Australia stated that, "with the re-opening of Australian borders for international travel on February 22nd , 2022, all future Australian CDI3* events will no longer require a JSP review to confirm MER results."
Photo © Astrid Appels
Related Links
Scores: 2022 CDI Boneo
Scores: 2022 CDI Bawley Point