From September 29th. to October 2nd., the final of the 110th edition of the Barcelona International Jumping Competition was held at the facilities of the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona. These tests are the maximum exponent of the show jumping competition that is held internationally by national teams under the rules of the FEI (International Equestrian Federation). This edition has had 22 teams.
FEI JUMPING NATIONS CUP FINAL
- On Thursday, the 14 teams participated, Mexico, Brazil, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Argentina, Great Britain, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Ireland and France.
- On Saturday the teams that did not qualify for the grand final on Sunday were: Mexico, Brazil, Norway, Sweden, Canada and Argentina. Mexico won this round.
- The grand final on Sunday was for the top 8 finishers on Thursday and they were, in order of departure: Great Britain, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Ireland and France.
The test consisted of a tour of the Olympic track of the Polo club with 14 obstacles of 1.60m. of maximum height and 18 efforts, with 85 seconds to finish the route. Among the obstacles were the triple jump, the estuary, a rustic river, two double jumps. A very demanding route that required the utmost attention from riders and horses.
In this final a place for the Paris 2024 Olympics was also decided, which was disputed by the teams from Belgium and Switzerland.
BELGIUM WINNER OF THE FINAL AND OLYMPIC PLACE
The result was that Belgium came out the winner of the test with 0 penalty points, followed by the French team. Spain was in a creditable sixth place.
The participants for the Belgium team were: Koen VEREEKE riding KASANOVA DE LA POMME, Gregory WATHELET riding IRON MAN VAN DE PADENBORRE, Giles THOMAS riding CALLERYAMA and Jerome GUERY riding QUEL HOMME DE HUS.
José Iturmendi / Pictures: Albert Loaso
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