Tokyo cross-country shortened due to weather concerns

THE FEI has approved a move to shorten the cross-country course at this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games to approximately eight minutes based on advice from its veterinary and eventing committee.

Approved by the FEI Board just before the Christmas break, the course will now run at 4,500 metres instead of the usual 5,700 championship length in order to control the effects of heat and humidity in Tokyo.

They had already agreed to bring the start time of the competition forward to 7.30am in order to avoid the highest Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) readings.

Welfare

A statement from the FEI said: “The welfare of both human and equine athletes is at the heart of the FEI’s decision-making process and these decisions have been taken to allow competing nations to optimise their performances in the Tokyo summer climate.

“Further technical details on the eventing cross country course will be released in due course.”

The decision is a result of a study commissioned by the FEI at last August’s Ready Steady Tokyo Test Event held at the venue, which proved that the horses’ heart rate during cross-country, and blood lactate, plus heart rate and rectal temperature after cross-country indicated that horses were working close to maximal capacity. That test event track measured a much shorter distance of 3,050 metres.