Ariana Chia Confirmed as Second Reserve for the Canadian Olympic Dressage Team

Ariana Chia has been publicly confirmed as the second team reserve members for the 2024 Canadian Olympic Dressage Team.

Her name was not mentioned in the official Team Canada press release of 5 July, but eight days later, on 13 July 2024,  Equestrian Canada took to Instagram with new team graphics and a text in which she is named as "Second Alternate".

"They (second alternates) are not included in the official COC nominations. We will be sharing further team information including non traveling alternate names next week," an EC spokesperson wrote on IG on 7 July.

Appeal Won

The Canadian Olympic team was first communicated on 14 June but riders/owners/trainers were under a non-disclose policy. Chia was named fifth and lodged an appeal, alleging conflict of interest in the selection process as the voting committee included a  competing athlete as well as the wife of the selected reserve rider. 

The Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada  confirmed this conflict of interest. Renowned arbitrator Richard H. McLaren (known as one of the three members of the WADA Commission to investigate allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russia) ruled. 

Two members of the nominations committee (Denielle Gallagher, Lisa von Martels) were removed and replaced by one new voting member, Wendy Christoff. It re-nominated the original team.

Team Split Up

While the Canadian Olympic Committee announced the dressage team on 5 July, Equestrian Canada never made an official post on the news section of its website of the Olympic team, only on social media.

The Canadian dressage team has gone into training camp at De Begijnhoeve in Mol, Belgium. 

Chia and Guateque IV will be flying to Europe as second alternates on 17 July. Chia was initially told that the flight of the fifth horse was fully funded. After the team nomination on 15 June she was told funding was no longer available. After she filed a complaint, funding of $25,000 CAD for the flight was found. Chia estimates the round trip  at $40,000 CAD.

Chia is not allowed to join the dressage team members in the training camp and has been separated from the team. She needs to stay on stand-by at Haras de Jardy in France. Her horse Guateque will be inspected for fitness by a different veterinarian than the one assessing the horses in Belgium. 

Two Team Veterinarians

Melanie McLearon, director of communications at Equestrian Canada, explained that, "we have set up an alternative staging location that is 20 minutes from the Olympic venue," when asked why Chia was split from the team.

Concerning different veterinarians inspecting the dressage horses, McLearen explained that "the Dressage team has two national team veterinarians which are being shared between the disciplines of Dressage and Eventing. The vets will be alternating back and forth between staging camps depending on the day and each horse’s arrival schedule. Therefore, there is no differential treatment, and the same vet will be doing the evaluation of the horses for the determination of the team."

The Canadian Olympic team veterinarians are Dr. Alan Manning and his assistant Dr. Emily Jantzi.

All emails to Christine Peters, Equestrian Canada's official Olympic Dressage Team manager, with questions about the team status and preparation have gone unanswered. 

Photos © EC - Astrid Appels

Related Links
Canadian Olympic Team for 2024 Paris Announced - Chia Lodged Appeal
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2024 Olympic Games