At the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Dressage events will test the ability of horse and rider to display both athletic prowess and supreme elegance.
Key facts
Venue: Greenwich ParkDates: Thursday 2 August – Thursday 9 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 50
Equestrian sport can be traced back more than 2,000 years, when the Greeks introduced dressage training to prepare their horses for war. Classical dressage reached its peak with the development of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, which laid the basis for the elegant, graceful sport practised today.
In modern Dressage competitions, the horse and rider perform a series of movements known as a Dressage test. The tests are performed in a 60m x 20m arena before a panel of seven judges, who award scores for individual movements and for the overall routine.
The Dressage competition consists of a Team event, which includes the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special rounds, and an Individual event, which includes the Grand Prix, the Grand Prix Special and the Grand Prix Freestyle. The Team and Individual events are conducted simultaneously: a rider’s score in a test may be counted in both events.
In the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special, all riders and horses perform the same tests. After the Grand Prix Special, medals are awarded in the Team event. However, the Individual event continues: the 18 riders with the best scores in the Grand Prix Special then qualify for the Grand Prix Freestyle, for which riders perform their own freestyle routines set to music. The scores in this round decide the winners of the Individual competition.
Olympic Dressage, past and present
Equestrian sports first featured on the Olympic programme of the Paris Games in 1900, which included jumping events, but were then absent until the 1912 Games in Stockholm, when Dressage made its first appearance.
Along with the other Equestrian events at London 2012, the Dressage competition will be held in the beautiful surroundings of Greenwich Park. Dating back to 1433, it’s the oldest Royal Park in London, part of the Maritime Greenwich area that has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The Dressage competition consists of a Team event, which includes the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special rounds, and an Individual event, which includes the Grand Prix, the Grand Prix Special and the Grand Prix Freestyle. The Team and Individual events are conducted simultaneously: a rider’s score in a test may be counted in both events.
In the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special, all riders and horses perform the same tests. After the Grand Prix Special, medals are awarded in the Team event. However, the Individual event continues: the 18 riders with the best scores in the Grand Prix Special then qualify for the Grand Prix Freestyle, for which riders perform their own freestyle routines set to music. The scores in this round decide the winners of the Individual competition.
Olympic Dressage, past and present
Equestrian sports first featured on the Olympic programme of the Paris Games in 1900, which included jumping events, but were then absent until the 1912 Games in Stockholm, when Dressage made its first appearance.
Along with the other Equestrian events at London 2012, the Dressage competition will be held in the beautiful surroundings of Greenwich Park. Dating back to 1433, it’s the oldest Royal Park in London, part of the Maritime Greenwich area that has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Equestrian – Dressage
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