“To allow sport to continue!” This is the message advocated by GL events Equestrian Sport, the organiser of the Longines Equita Lyon, Concours Hippique International, and its president Sylvie Robert, since the beginning of the health crisis which has the hit the world over the last few months. Due to the toughening of the health guidelines applicable in the Lyon region, the Equita Lyon exhibition and the Equita Lyon Western Horse Show will not be able to be held this year and have been cancelled.
This communication is overdue and the GL events Equestrian Sport team is conscious of this. It is the result of a desire to find solutions up until the very last minute to uphold the long-awaited event, while protecting the health and safety of all the stakeholders, participants and visitors.
However, for the first time, the Longines Equita Lyon, Concours Hippique International will be organised over nine days, from 24 October to 1 November 2020, thus providing competitors with an innovative format and exceptional visibility on a dedicated site.
The Longines Equita Lyon, Concours Hippique International will showcase the following competitions:
The Longines Equita Lyon, Concours Hippique International’s competitions will take place before a thousand people at the most, mainly the event’s partners, thanks to which the sporting event can be upheld. If the maximum capacity was increased, the general public could be welcomed, within the limits of this new capacity. Ticket sales for the “general public” are no longer available for the moment; provisions have been made for the refund of tickets that have already been purchased.
For Sylvie Robert, the President of GL events Equestrian Sport, “this decision to maintain the competitions in the big ring fulfils the commitments that we made for months to support riders and owners, who are particularly affected by the pandemic. Sport must continue, athletes, riders and horses must continue to work, compete and train, to prepare for future major events, primarily the FEI World Cup Finals, the FEI European Championships and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
“I would like to warmly thank our long-standing partners, who believed in the event with us and without whom nothing would have been possible: Longines, the Fédération Equestre Internationale, the French Equestrian Federation, the Comité Régional d’Equitation Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, the Laiterie de Montaigu, Sommer, Land Rover, Boehringer Ingelheim, CWD, Hermès Sellier and Cheval Liberté, among others.
“Everything for sport”: in keeping with the French Equestrian Federation’s decision to uphold its circuits for the 2020 season, the Longines Equita Lyon, Concours Hippique International, which has played host to these circuits for many years, wanted to support our national and regional riders at all levels, by introducing new days of competition. This pandemic is a catastrophe which is impacting the athletes terribly, and I would like to thank the institutions, including the Prefecture of Rhone, for their understanding of the absolute necessity to uphold the competitions scheduled.”
The major classes will be broadcast free of charge and on linear television on Sport en France, the CNOSF (French National Olympic and Sports Committee) channel, and via streaming on Equita TV, FEI TV and Cheval TV, to allow fans to fully enjoy the event remotely.
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