Equestrian High Performance Weekly Update – 13th July, 2020
We hope you have all been keeping safe, well and healthy.
As the Covid-19 situation around the globe continues to evolve, and domestically we see the reintroduction of lockdown in some States, the health and wellbeing of our riders, horses, and support teams remains our highest priority. We urge the high performance equestrian community to abide strictly by the latest government directives in order to minimise the spread of Covid-19 and to make health and wellbeing a priority. We continue to monitor the situation closely and communicate any developments diligently with our stakeholders.
In these uncertain times we are again reminded of the strength, resilience and versatility of our athletes and the Equestrian High Performance Program. Our riders continue to focus on their Tokyo 2021 preparations and achieving their individual performance plan goals, adapting to the varied landscape the pandemic has forced upon our sport. The Equestrian High Performance Program remains at the forefront of innovation, constantly finding and developing new ways and areas to support our athletes to perform at their best. The geographical boundaries have been shifted as the Program has sought to make greater use of digital resources, workshops, training programs, discussion forums and communication tools to close the gap and bring ‘Team Australia’ together in this time of uncertainty.
Last week the FEI announced that the previously cancelled FEI Driving World Championship Four In Hand will now take place in Valkenswaard (NED) 7–11 October 2020. The Championship, which had originally been scheduled to take place in Kronenberg (NED) in September 2020, was cancelled due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. The FEI are yet to update the qualification criteria for the newly reinstated event but as soon as this information becomes available the new Australian Selection Policy will be drafted.
In addition the FEI also made the decision to amend Article 914.2 of the FEI Driving Rules to allow Drivers wishing to compete at the FEI Driving World Championship for Singles 2020 in Pau (FRA), 21-26 October, to now possess a 2* status rating or higher. These amendments can be found on the FEI website here. The Australian National Driving Selectors are currently working on amending the selection policies for both Championship events to reflect the FEI changes and as soon as the policies are available we will share them with our stakeholders.
In these challenging and uncertain times the Equestrian High Performance Program remains committed to ensuring our athletes and team are adequately supported and that their wellbeing is not sacrificed in the pursuit of performance. We have been working closely with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) to develop an Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement structure that services our athletes and takes into account the unique nature of equestrian sport.
Last week Equestrian High Performance staff met virtually with key AIS program leaders to discuss ideas and requirements in order to create a structure that can assist our riders with engagement, mental health, career progression, education, personal development, conduct and professionalism. The Equestrian High Performance Program will continue these important discussions with the AIS in order to provide a sound and compatible platform to benefit our riders.
Currently we remain focussed on preparing our athletes for the postponed Games in 2021 and sending forth our strongest team to represent Australia at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. We continue to engage in open communication with the FEI, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and Paralympics Australia (PA) to ensure all requirements are met in order for our riders to compete at the Games. Our National Selectors are also in the process of reviewing the Olympic and Paralympic Selection Policies and we look forward to presenting these updated policies once they have been through the required review process with the AOC and PA.
As always the health and safety of our people and horses remain our highest priority as we work together as a united high performance community to navigate these unprecedented times.
We thank you all for your understanding and continued support and please feel free to contact the High Performance team directly if you have any questions or queries.
Source: Equestrian High Performance team
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