CSI-W events enter their second decade in Olomouc with a great atmosphere as always

It has been ten years since the first World Cup show jumping event was held in Olomouc and ten years since the first Czech rider qualified for the finals of this prestigious series, which are taking place in Riyadh this week. 

The eleventh edition of the Banka CREDITAS CSI2*-W Olomouc World Cup will be held at the Equine Sport Center from 20th to 23rd June. The programme of the four-day event will remain almost unchanged from last year, when 21 competitions were held over the event. “The two-star category will include Gold, Silver and Bronze Tours, with the Gold Tour competitions scored in the FEI Ranking. Sunday’s Grand Prix will be one of the last opportunities for riders to confirm their results and qualify for the Paris Olympics. The start of the main competition, in which the riders will also collect points for the FEI World Cup Central European League, will begin at noon, as has already become a tradition,” said Kristýna Koutná, the Competition Director.

Last year, the Czech rider Sára Vingrálková earned twenty important points for her victory in the World Cup competition in Olomouc. She scored the same number of points in Šamorín, Slovakia, and later collected more points in Warsaw and Poznan in Poland. At the final of the Central European League in Krakow, she secured the second of three qualifying spots for the Grand Final of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup 2023/2024, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 16th to 20th April.

It has taken ten long years for another Czech rider to qualify for the finals of this prestigious series. Aleš Opatrný qualified in 2014, but he did not take part in the top event in Lyon. The last Czech rider competed in the World Cup finals in 2005. “We are very happy that a Czech rider has qualified for this prestigious event after such a long time and that Sára Vingrálková’s success in Olomouc has paved the way for her to collect more qualification points in the FEI Series. We hope that this will motivate other Czech riders to build on this success and try to go as far as possible in the World Cup,” said Barbora Hubáčková, President of the event and owner of the Equine Sport Center Olomouc.

The international event in Olomouc traditionally offers competitions for young riders and horses. “There will be three competitions for riders under 25 years of age, with the main competition taking place on Sunday afternoon, which is also part of the FEI Longines Rating. There will also be competitions for junior riders and, as always, a tour for six- and seven-year-old horses. Building on the last year’s success, we have decided to include the Elite Tour CSIAm-A for amateur riders with obstacles of 110 cm to 115 cm, which will be open to Czech riders and horses who do not hold the FEI Pass. Amateur riders will once again have the opportunity to experience the atmosphere of international competition on a course designed by a world-class course designer. This year, the course designer will be Leandro Andreoli Balen from Brazil,” added Kristýna Koutná noting that in the previous years, the courses were designed by Olaf Petersen (2014, 2015, 2016), Peter Schumacher (2017 and 2018), Uliano Vezzani (2019), Eduard Petrovic (2020), Alan Wade (2021) and Bernardo Costa Cabral (2022 and 2023).

The official programme of the 2024 Banka CREDITAS CSI2*-W Olomouc is currently being finalised and will be published on the event’s website at www.csiolomouc.cz. As in previous years, admission to the event will be free.