After a hard fought legal battle for unbiased team selection, Canadian Olympic team second reserve Ariana Chia has thrown in the towel.
The owners of her horse Guateque decided not to send the horse to Europe, where their rider would stay segregated from the team in France.
Impossible Logistics
Miguel Coves, owner of the PRE stallion Guateque, sent the following letter to Canadian Olympic Committee on 17 July 2024, the day her horse was supposed to fly to Europe.
"After great efforts to organize the Coves Darden Team trip to Europe and due to the successive last minute changes by the organization, without prior notice and a short period of time to re-organize, it is impossible for us to hire a flight and land transportation that would place us on a sufficient date and time to be in France on the requested dates.
It is disappointing that after a year of all kinds of efforts at the Show Grounds by the entire Coves Darden Team, a terrible organization has achieved this disgraceful result for the sport.
It is due to the impossibility of organizing the trip and arrival in “France” (not Belgium) on time, that Coves Darden Team declines participation.
The Long Road
Canada's Olympic team was first communicated on 14 June. Chia was named fifth rider and she 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.
Equestrian Canada continued to put spanners in the works and stated there was no money to fly Chia's horse to Europe. After a complaint was filed, there suddenly was half the budget available, the rest needed to be privately funded. Chia was also told that she would not join the team at their camp in Belgium, but would be sent to Jardy in France, where a different vet would assess the fitness of her horse, instead of the dressage team vet.
Chia and Guateque were supposed to fly to Europe on 17 July, but the team has decided to not go.
Related Links
Ariana Chia Confirmed as Second Reserve for the Canadian Olympic Dressage Team
Canadian Olympic Team for 2024 Paris Announced - Chia Lodged Appeal