It is one of the great highlights of every jumping season, and in just 100 days the focus of the world of equestrian sport will turn once more to the prestigious Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 in Barcelona, Spain, September 28 – October 1.
This trophy is one that every nation wants to lift, confirming supremacy in a team sport that is steeped in a long tradition of camaraderie, national pride and cutting-edge competition. The format has taken a few twists and turns during its 111-year history but the theme remains the same, and the smiles on the faces of the winning riders say it all.
Celebrated
The Real Club de Polo in the heart of the beautiful Spanish city of Barcelona staged show jumping during the celebrated 1992 Olympic Games and, 91 years after it was built, the stadium at the elegant venue has undergone a rebuilding project to expand the spectator viewing area for this year’s Final.
It has been home to the Final since 2013 when France came out on top ahead of Brazil. Four years later Longines took up the title sponsorship of the series, and the defending champions going into this year’s season-closer are Team Belgium.
Last year’s victory was their third in eight years, and the country that took team bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games got off to a great start on the road to the 2023 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final with a brilliant win at the second leg of the Europe Division 1 qualifying league in Sopot, Poland last weekend.
There are six legs in this series which continues today (Friday 23 June) at Rotterdam in The Netherlands, and a total of eight nations – Belgium, France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands and Switzerland – are fighting for one the seven places on offer at the Final.
Battle is over
For some countries the battle is already over, because the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia claimed their spots at the Middle East qualifier staged in Abu Dhabi (UAE) in January while USA and Mexico booked their tickets through the North America, Central America and Caribbean league which concluded in Canada last month.
The fate of the Europe Division 1 teams is unlikely to be decided until the last of their qualifiers takes place in Dublin, Ireland on August 11.
The Swiss are currently leading Europe Division 1, and although they are one of the strongest nations on the world circuit they have never won the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ series title, even going back to the very early years.
Extra incentive
They may have an extra incentive to make it happen this time around because at this year’s Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final there is again a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on offer to the highest ranked team not already qualified. So, should they not succeed in picking up one of the three places up for grabs at the FEI Jumping European Championships in Milan (ITA) in September then they’ll be hungry to take it.
However they’ll face plenty of powerful opposition, including a mighty challenge from Team USA who are in the same position but who will have one further opportunity to make the cut to Paris at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile at the end of October.
There are multiple reasons why the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 is already set to be a tense thriller from start to finish, not least because it represents team jumping at its very best and is always guaranteed to present superb sport…..
More about the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ 2023 series here.
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