Following the performances of the Australian dressage riders in the Grand Prix at the 2026 World Championships in Aachen, Australia has earned a team place in the dressage competition for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Australia placed 13th out of 19 nations in the Grand Prix Team competition in Aachen. The top 6 ranked countries qualified directly for Paris, but there was also one quota place availeble for a country in FEI Group G (South East Asia, Oceania). Group G includes Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Australia and Thailand were the only two countries with a team at the 2026 World Championships. The Japanese dressage programme at Grand Prix level has fully collapsed after the 2021 Olympics on home turf in Tokyo and New Zealand did not field a team in Aachen but only had one individual. Countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, India and Indonesia are building their programme at small tour level first. Indonesia also had its first ever individual Grand Prix rider in Aachen, while India has several GP riders but this season they all focused on small tour level for the 2026 Asian Games in Tokyo.
Long-time Australian Grand Prix team rider Mary Hanna confirmed that Australia won the Group G team spot for L.A.
"Australia is now qualified for LA Olympics, with all four of our team members having completed their tests. It’s always a challenge being first out, but still happy with our results," said Hanna.
Australia is represented by Simone Pearce (Will Marq), William Matthew (Faye), Warwick McLean (Le Special) and Mary Hanna (Ivanhoe) in Aachen. They are captained by Dane Rawlins.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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