There is a tangible sense of excitement growing over the upcoming roster selection for the Dressage at the 2024 Paris Olympics. With the seconds cutting down for the big events scheduled from July 30 to August 4, team qualifying and speculating of participating countries will then move to Grand Prix. The process is lengthy and the criteria stricter than ever with the world’s best athletes and teams vying and being pitted against one another. Of course, there’s more to this visual spectacle than meets the eye.
As the anxious storm lingers, one needs to know that three disciplines received half of the 200 equestrian quota spots: show jumping (75), eventing (65), and dressage (60). In the esoteric anticipation scene, a recent prediction update allayed some doubts on Games selection.
Equestrian berths insight for the Games
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Some prestigious meets, such as the World Equestrian Games, give away direct quotas while a team spot is automatically reserved by the host country, France. Meanwhile, Euro Dressage shared an exclusive analysis by David Stickland of Global Dressage Analytics which confirmed, “Countries already qualified are: France, Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, United States of America, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Poland, Brazil, Canada and Australia.”
The article further highlighted—Brazil lacks to meet the Minimum Eligibility Requirement—a valuable team spot becomes available. Moreover, two spaces are available for ‘Composite’ teams as no team from Group F (Africa) made the cut. “Composite teams are constructed from the top 3 combinations per nation in the Olympic ranking lists,” the report mentioned.
Now all eyes are on the two potential countries as the selection deadline approaches on 31 December. Stickland also shared some insights on the possible qualifiers: Portugal (2716 points) and Finland (2738 points) and finally Norway(2590 points) are his top picks.
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The expedited predictions continue to keep viewers on its toes
Even though it’s still a long way off till the end of July, Stickland couldn’t help but give a sneak peek at his hesitant team predictions. His prediction puts Great Britain in a dominant position. Meanwhile, Sweden and the Netherlands, as well as Denmark and Germany, are all tied for first place. With three-person teams’ dynamism and six months to go, there is still much time for dynamics to cause a tonal and universal shift in the scene.
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As the group of teams begins to take shape, the focus automatically turns to the distribution of 15 individual spots. This distribution is a challenging issue to solve because of its intricate relationship between area groups and the overall ranking list. Stickland is confident about his predictions for these prized spots, while the enthusiasts wait for the final roster announcement in two days!
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