FEI Gandini World Jumping Riders Rankings

Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA), who was officially awarded the Olympic title this month, further to the disqualification of Irish rider Cian O’Connor, is the new leader of the FEI Gandini World Jumping Riders Rankings with 2695 points. In addition to his extra Olympic points, he earned no less than 377 points in Spruce Meadows, where he won the Derby and the Devon Cup on Richmond Park.

Markus Fuchs (SUI) follows at the second place, only 15 points behind the Brazilian. His runner-up position is however not secured, as he will drop 550 points from 2004 at the end of July, which might kick him off the Top 3, unless he signs a faultless performance at the European Championships in San Patrignano (ITA). Fuchs earned 300 points during June, mainly in Norten-Ardenberg (GER), at the Samsung Super League fixtures of St-Gallen (SUI) and Rotterdam (NED), where he was a member of the winning Swiss team and scored a double clear.

With 2661 points, Ludger Beerbaum (GER) falls down one step to third position. The multi-medallist German star could not recuperate the 170 points he dropped at the end of June, despite his good results in St-Gallen, where he finished 2nd in the Grand Prix with L’Espoir.

Last month’s world No 1, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER), now lies fourth with a total of 2579 points. Riding her World Cup winning partner Shutterfly, Meredith was eliminated in the first round of the Samsung Super League of St-Gallen when Shutterfly slammed on the brakes at fence five and then refused again later on the track. However, the Top Ten champion scored an impeccable clear round in the second round and finished 3rd in the Sunday Grand Prix.

Complete rankings on www.horsesport.org, section jumping, results, rankings (direct link http://www.horsesport.org/S/s_03_02.html)