Session 1: Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Regulations

Session 1: Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Regulations

The purpose of the first Session of the 2022 FEI Sports Forum was to discuss topics that are common to the Paris 2024 Regulations for Jumping, Dressage, Eventing and Para Dressage.

The Session was led by FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez, FEI Director of Olympic Games & Eventing Catrin Norinder, and FEI Deputy Legal Director Áine Power.

The FEI Secretary General opened the Session, by reviewing the key dates and milestones in the Paris 2024 consultation process which started at the 2021 FEI Hybrid General Assembly in Antwerp (BEL).

The Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification System for Jumping, Dressage and Eventing was approved at the 2021 FEI General Assembly, including the teams of three concept, the method for the distribution of Quota Places and the Qualification Systems. It was decided that the Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs), the reallocation of unused quota places, specific deadlines and the competition structure would be put to the FEI General Assembly in 2022 for approval.

The FEI General Assembly in Antwerp (BEL) also approved in full, the Paris 2024 Paralympic Qualification Systems, due to the fact that Para Dressage Athletes could start earning their MERs as of 1 January 2022.

The following key topics of discussion emerged from the Pairs 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Regulations Consultation Process that followed:

• The timelines for Paris 2024 Qualifications, MERs and entries
• Pre-Competition changes and substitution processes
• Athlete/Horse Nationality
• NOC Certificate of Capability Concept
• Additional NOC Accreditations for Equestrian
• Medals
• Reallocation of Quotas
• Provisional schedule for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Each of these topics were addressed during Session 1 of the 2022 FEI Sports Forum, and delegates were provided with the following information and proposals for consideration:

• A detailed timeline for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Qualifications, MERs and Entries that has been created on the basis of FEI and Tokyo 2020 deadlines. It was proposed to set Monday 24 June 2024 as the deadline for Athlete/Horse combinations to achieve the Minimum Eligibility Requirements.
• A thorough overview of the pre-competition changes and the substitution processes for the Olympic and Paralympic Games for Jumping, Dressage, Eventing and Para Dressage. It was proposed that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games systems/concepts are also applied for Paris 2024.
• An explanation of the Athlete/Horse Nationality rule as has applied for previous editions of the Olympic Games whereby the Horse must be registered by 15 January of the year of the Olympic Games as having the same nationality as the Athlete it will compete with at the Olympic Games, and a proposal to apply the same system/concept to Paris 2024.
• A proposal to retain the same NOC Certificate of Capability concept for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as was applied for Tokyo 2020. Under this concept, which only applies for team quota places, the NOC will have to confirm to the FEI by 5 January 2024 that at least three Athlete/Horse combinations from the NOC have achieved the minimum eligibility requirements during the period of the respective discipline’s FEI World Championship 2022 to 31 December 2023.
• Additional delegation accreditations for Equestrian at the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The details are still under discussion with the IOC, IPC and the Paris 2024 OCOG. According to the proposal, each NOC may request accreditation for a maximum of two owners for each Horse allowed in the Olympic Stables (maximum of four horses per team (three + one reserve), one horse per individual) during the Olympic Games and Training venue passes. The cost of additional delegation accreditations would be at the cost of the NOCs/NPCs.
• Confirmation that all Athletes of a Team who are on the field of play or contributed to the team result will be eligible for a medal.
• An overview of the ways in which quota places will be reallocated. It was proposed that the same general system/concept that applied for Tokyo 2020 would apply for Paris 2024, subject to further discussion and confirmation with the IOC.
• An overview of the 11 day competition schedule allocated to the equestrian competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The schedule allows for three days for Eventing, four days for Jumping, and four days for Dressage as the venue is shared with Modern Pentathlon. The format and detailed program within the Equestrian competitions was still to be confirmed with Paris 2024 OC and the IOC once approved by the FEI GA.

During the Q&A session, Belgian athlete and IJRC Board Member François Mathy requested greater clarification on the substitution processes for the Olympic Games with particular emphasis on the requirement to have a medical/vet certificate as opposed to the pre-competition change which does not require this. The panellists clarified that the reason that a medical/veterinary certificate is required for “Substitutions” is to ensure that the quota assigned to the respective disciplines is respected and that the reserve Athlete/Horse is only activated for a medical/veterinary reason so that the reserve is not considered as an additional quota place. It was also clarified that the two different procedures – for before and after the start of the competition - was in line with the principles of other sports in the Olympic Games.

This led to the request from Will Connell from USEF for clarification on the two hour cut off for making substitutions and pre competition changes – and the need to have the process completed by the two hour cut off. The panellists confirmed the required deadline to complete any substitution or pre competition change two hours from the start of competition was necessary from an organisational perspective and had been successfully applied in Tokyo with the FEI and OCOG pulling out all the stops to ensure all requests were fulfilled.

Eleonora Ottaviani (IJRC) also requested confirmation about the nationality of companies that own horses and it was confirmed that the nationality corresponds to the country in which the company is registered rather than the nationality of the owners/shareholders of the company.

There were also questions about the possibility of moving the deadline for registering the nationality of the Horse. While the FEI is flexible on changing the date, the FEI will wait to see what feedback is provided by NFs/stakeholders on this rule/date as part of the rules revision process and, if necessary, it could be voted on separately at the FEI General Assembly 2022. FEI Deputy Legal Director Aine Power also cautioned that moving the deadline closer to the Olympic Games would mean that NFs/NOCs have less certainty in the run up to the Olympic Games as to the pool of horses at their disposal for selection.

While conversations about the owner accreditations are still ongoing with the IOC, Quentin Simonet from the French Federation requested that owner accreditations are maintained even after a substitution is made and the horse that is substituted is no longer competing.

Will Connell from USEF encouraged National Federations to lobby the International Paralympic Committee for more training venue passes and access to the Paralympic Village, particularly for carers. He stressed that support staff and carers are essential to the running of the Games and the need to provide this support for them. The panellists confirmed that this is a concern that the FEI is also raising directly with the IPC.

Following the number of suggestions about changes to the timetable, and in particular about the one day that is assigned to the Dressage test of Eventing, Olympic Games Director Catrin Norinder informed delegates that the FEI will be looking at ways to make the Eventing dressage test more efficient and that the one day for dressage will be tested in advance of the Olympic Games. However, these plans will only start taking shape when the delivery partner for the equestrian events will be appointed by the Organising Committee, which is expected to occur by the end of May 2022.

Speakers:
♦ Sabrina Ibáñez, FEI Secretary General
♦ Catrin Norinder, FEI Director Olympic and Eventing
♦ Áine Power, FEI Legal Deputy Director