USEF Announces Show Jumping Selection Procedures for the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival

By Stacey Meier

Lexington, KY— The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) announces that the Executive Committee has recently approved the Show Jumping Selection Procedures for the Australian Youth Olympic Festival which will be held January 14-18, 2009 at the Sydney International Equestrian Center. Athletes from across the world will be competing in this international competition.

The Australian Youth Olympic Festival is a multi-sport event that follows the structure of Olympic Games as closely as possible. There are eight “core” sports” and Equestrian is one of “rotational” sports that may or may not be included in the program. Equestrian will be included in the program until at least 2011.

Invited nations include Australia, Great Britain, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States. Each nation is invited to bring a team of four athletes and the athletes must be 15-20 years as of December 31, 2008 (i.e. born between January 1, 1989 and December 31, 1994).

The jumping competition will include fence heights starting at 1.15m and 1.20m. The event is with borrowed horses (per FEI Art 264) supplied by Australia as the host country. All horses will be put into a pool to be drawn out by the teams. Also, the Australian Youth Olympic Festival will be conducted in accordance with FEI rules and include a Warm-up Competition, a Table C, a Nations Cup, and an Individual Final.

The athletes will be required to pay for their travel to Sydney, Australia however the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) will provide accommodations for athletes from January 13 to January 17, including meals and ground transportation.

Selection will be based on prize money won at competitions with a start date no earlier than September 16, 2008, and no later than November 3, 2008 and will include the following classes held at USEF Licensed Competitions as well as FEI Competitions:

- Junior Jumper classes held at Level 6 or higher offering $5,000 or more in prize money;

- Open Jumper classes held at Level 6 or higher offering $5,000 or more in prize money including Grand Prix classes offering $25,000 or more in prize money.

Athletes wishing to be considered for the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival must submit a completed application to the attention of Jennifer Haydon, c/o USEF, 4047 Iron Works Parkway, Lexington, KY, 40511. Applications must be postmarked, faxed, emailed, or hand delivered no later than Friday October 31, 2008. No application will be accepted after this date. All applicants must be current USEF members in good standings and US Citizens.

For the Selection Procedures and Application information, please take the following links: http://www.usef.org/Contentpage2.aspx?id=natjumping or http://www.usef.org/Contentpage2.aspx?id=ayof