Ottawa, ON, Feb. 27, 2020 – Canada has received an invitation from the FEI for two individual athletes to compete in the eventing competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, to be held July 24-Aug. 9 in Japan.
For eventing, a nation can qualify for a maximum of two individual places. Canada was able to secure the spots allotted to FEI Group D: North America after the U.S. Eventing Team obtained team qualification and therefore became ineligible to send individual athletes; other nations in Olympic Group D did not have eligible combinations. The full list of qualified nations can be found here.
“Canada is pleased to be the only FEI Eventing Group D country to have been allocated two individual spots for Tokyo 2020,” said Equestrian Canada (EC) High Performance Director, James Hood. “Our EC National Team Program – Eventing, under the tutelage of [Technical Advisor] David O’Connor and [EC Eventing High Performance Advisory Group Chair] Rob Stevenson, have been working towards more depth and opportunities for Canadians. This is a good first step to end the Tokyo Quadrennial and our build towards Paris 2024.”
Hood concluded, “Congratulations need to go to our athletes whose performances last year put Canada in this position. Now we can focus on the selections process for the riders/horses who will represent Canada in Tokyo.”
EC is supported in its pursuit of excellence at Olympic Games by the Canadian Olympic Committee, Sport Canada and Own the Podium. EC wishes to also thank Sport Canada for its support of our athletes through the Athlete Assistance Program (AAP).
Complete information on Team Canada’s selection process can be found here. For more information on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, visit https://tokyo2020.org. To support the Canadian eventers on their #RidetoTokyo, visit www.equestrian.ca/donate.
– 30 –