Equestrian: Qualified Nations confirmed for 2008 Olympics

(BEIJING, June 5) -- As of May 31, 43 nations had confirmed their participation in the 2008 Olympic Equestrian competition, setting a new record for the sport at the Games, according to the FEI website.

The Chinese Equestrian Team will make its debut appearance at the Beijing Olympic Games, with all six members qualified for events. The members are Liu Lina (Dressage), Hua Tian (Eventing), Li Zhenqiang (Jumping), Huang Zuping (Jumping), Zhang Bin (Jumping) and Zhao Zhiwen (Jumping).

The latest list of qualified nations is presented below.

EVENTING:

South Africa has decided not to participate in the Individual Eventing, and the space has been reallocated to Czech Republic according to the Eventing Olympic world ranking list.

Qualified Team (9 teams, 45 riders):

Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, United States of America.

Qualified Individuals (20 riders):

Argentina-1, Austria-1, Belgium-2, Belarus-2, Chile-2, China-1, Czech Republic-1, Denmark -1, Jamaica-1, Japan-1, The Netherlands-2, Poland-2, Russia-2, Switzerland-1

DRESSAGE

Antigua, Austria and Belgium have decided not to participate in the Individual Dressage, and Switzerland pulls out of Team Dressage. For Austria, as two individual Dressage riders have qualified, one berth remained.

According to the Dressage Olympic world ranking list, these spaces have been reallocated to France, Russia, Poland and Portugal, thus making Russia and France each to have a composite team of 3 riders and Portugal to participate in the Individual Dressage.

Qualified Teams (9 teams, 27 riders):

Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Sweden, The Netherlands and United States of America

Qualified Composite Teams (4 teams, 12 riders): Denmark, France, Russia and Spain

Qualified Individuals (10 riders):

Austria, Belarus, China, Finland, Italy, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Poland, Portugal and South Africa (one rider in each nation)

JUMPING

No changes in the Jumping.

Qualified Teams (16 teams, 64 riders):

Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Ukraine, and United States of America

Qualified Individuals (15 riders)

Argentina-1, Azerbaijan-1, Belgium-1, Bermuda-1, Colombia-1, Ireland-1, Jordan-1, Japan-2, Russia-2, United Arab Emirates-1 and Venezuela-1