Youth Olympians Counting Down to Landmark Event

The Asian team will be pathfinders for the first equestrian event of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games, Round One of the team Jumping event, following this morning’s draw. This historic competition gets underway tomorrow at 9.30am Singapore time in front of a sell out crowd.

The order of go for the team Jumping event is:
1. Asia
2. Australasia
3. North & Central America & Caribbean Islands
4. Africa
5. Europe
6. South America

The equestrian athletes at the Youth Olympic Games drew their horses for the jumping competitions on 13 August. They have had training sessions with their equine partners since 14 August, mainly focusing on bonding with their horses and familiarising themselves with the style and temperament of their new mounts.

Teams are made up of different nations from each continent, giving the riders an opportunity to bond with athletes from other countries and focus on working together tomorrow for the good of their continent’s team.

The nationalities in each of the continental teams are:
Asia (SYR, KAZ, QAT, SIN, UAE)
Australasia (HKG, NZL, CHN, OMA, AUS)
North and Central America & Caribbean Islands (USA, BAR, PAN, GUA, CAN)
Africa (ZIM, ALG, LBA, EGY, RSA)
Europe (SUI, POL, ITA, GBR, BEL)
South America (BRA, ARG, CHI, COL, URU)

Chef d’Equipe of the European team, Corinne Bracken (GBR) commented that her team is looking to tomorrow’s competition with “a mixture of apprehension and excitement”. “The European team has bonded really well, and are truly living the Olympic dream”, Bracken said. “It’s also been a wonderful opportunity for the equestrian competitors to watch future champions in other sports, such as gymnastics, which has been very inspiring.”

Australasian team rider, Jasmine Lai (HKG), said: “I am enjoying the experience of riding a different horse and I am very excited about competing in the team event tomorrow. Being part of the Youth Olympic Games is a once in a life time opportunity”.

“We too are very excited about tomorrow’s competition, as it’s the first of its kind”, John Roche, FEI Director of Jumping, said “it’s a wonderful opportunity for young athletes from all over the world to be able to measure their talents against their fellow competitors, which of course, will result in gold, silver and bronze medals for riders from three continents.”

To keep updated with daily news on the equestrian competitors and events, visit http://www.fei.org/ and the FEI Youth Olympic Games Blog.