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Global vaulting championship to make its FEI World Cup Finals debut in April
A new-look vaulting championship will be part of the FEI World Cup Finals due to be held in April in Omaha, USA. This is a first for the World Cup and only the second time a major vaulting championship has been contested in the USA, the previous one being in 2018 at the FEI World Equestrian Games.
Following the success of a new competition format at the World Cup Final in Leipzig, Germany, in 2022, where seven nations were represented, the final will again feature two tests: a technical test and a free test. Prior to this, the two individual tests were the same.
After the 2019 season, a revised qualification system was established for vaulting that allowed qualifying events to be held throughout the year instead of during the winter only. The knock-on effect of this change has been an increase in the number of qualifiers and, as a result, the number of participating athletes, too.
Having already met the eligibility requirements, the highest-ranked competitors listed on the Vaulting World Cup Individual Standings, as of 31 December 2022, have qualified to take part.
To encourage global representation and diversity, there will be three regions represented, the first being Africa, Asia and Oceania, the second North and South America and the third Europe. The four highest ranking pas-de-deux (pairs) will also qualify, regardless of region, competing alongside 2022’s champions.
A plane has been chartered to fly five vaulting horses from Germany and one from Italy to Omaha, while the remaining European athletes will compete on borrowed horses located in the US.
Commenting on how excited competitors had been to travel across the world to previous finals and what it had meant to them, FEI Vaulting and Para Sports manager Laetitia Gilliéron said: “The sport of vaulting is different from other disciplines in that the team spirit between nations is really something special.”
