The Legacy of Paris 2024
The Legacy of Paris 2024
Horse riding made its debut at the Olympic Games as an official sport in Paris in 1900 with some show jumping events. At the 1912 Stockholm Games equestrian sports were awarded a permanent place in the Olympic
programme. The 1952 Helsinki Games were a turning point, as women were allowed to participate in the dressage competition
Finally, in 1964, women had full access to all equestrian disciplines and horse riding became the only completely mixed sport at the Olympic Games.
This highlights aspects that make equestrian Sports unique: the horse as a protagonist as well as men and women competing together. This makes equestrian disciplines a very ‘sensitive and complex’ sport and carries an important message.
The fact that men and women compete in the same events highlights the uncommon peculiarity that they must have in addition to technical skills: ‘superfine and intangible skills’… in this sport strength is not an essential skill. There are no inequalities.
Then there’s the horse.
With horses we share life, days, hours, minutes, joys and defeats. Horses feel everything, they feel us, they feel the responsibility and commitment of the competition, they know when they are fighting for a medal. Around the horse and its needs, there are people who work with dedication, professionalism, incessant commitment to live the joy of a victory, to suffer the heartache of an injury, to share values of respect, loyalty, resilience, love.
The values that should guide the world. The words of some of the protagonists, taken from their social channels, should be of example for all of us.
The first, Henrik von Eckermann, who saw the dream of winning another medal for himself and his King Edward vanish because of a fall due to a misunderstanding between the two of them:
«The Paris 2024 Olympics ended and in a way I could never have imagined. What hurts the most is that these were going to be the last Olympic Games for King Edward, his body and spirit were there to fight for the medal; he deserved it so much. Denying him this chance is a bitter pill to swallow. But with time the wound and pain will heal and the scar that will remain will certainly make me a better rider and horseman. I will be forever grateful to you my King, as I will be to my team and my family. »
Henrik von Eckermann
«Thank you Romeo, my fighter, partner and forever legend. To his owner and my friend who have trusted me with your very special horse. To my super-groom and Romeo’s best friend, all the team back at home and to my dad, family and best friends who made the trip over to Paris. To win an Olympic gold medal surrounded by all of you made it ten times sweeter. Thank you, I owe you all so much.» .
Harry Charles
«Teamwork is the secret that makes common people achieve incredible results…»
Steve Guerdat
Paris has also been an exceptional showcase of the connection between breeding and sport. In the magazine you will find not only competition reports, insights about the Olympic champions, but also unpublished breeding statistics, maternal lines and stallions that have had the largest number of offspring in the competition. An extraordinary collection of data, edited by ‘our’ Luca Paparelli, which emphasises the long path behind the making of each champion.
And again, statistics on the age and number of Olympic horse participations, interviews, rules and regulations, stories, veterinary and more about Paris 2024 in the disciplines of show jumping, eventing and dressage.
