Olympic Champion David O’Connor (USA) appropriately won the first place of the 2000 Global FEI Event Rider Rankings. His Individual Gold medal and Bronze Team Medal won at the Sydney Olympic Games were of course included in his Top Six Scores, which count for the rankings.

A relatively new rider to international Eventing, Andreas Dibowski (GER - pictured right), claimed the 2nd place of the Rankings. He had a very regular season, placing 1st at Boekelo (CCIO 3-star); 2nd and 9th at Luhmühlen (CCIO 3-star); and 1st at Bonn-Rodderberg (CCI 2-star).

The year 2000 saw the first victory of Pakistan in an International Three Day Event. Nadeem Noon (PAK), with his horse Greystone V, won the CCI 1-star in Bromont (CAN) with 59.8 points.

The complete list of the FEI World Riders Rankings is available on the FEI website www.horsesport.org and will be published in the FEI Bulletin 2/2001.

Two sets of points were awarded for the Olympic Games Individual and team competitions respectively.

The riders competing in the individual competition were awarded points according to the four star Championship scale.

As the team competition was conducted according to IOC guidelines, it was, as for Atlanta, decided that there should be no individual classification in the team competition. Points were therefore awarded to riders relative to the position of their team. The scale of points used for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games was adjusted according to the point system implemented since 1998, for the team riders, and can be seen by going to www.horsesport.org.

All the other riders having completed the competition have been awarded 30 points.

The year 2000 also marked the ninth year of the FEI World Event Rider Rankings. The FEI wishes to express its gratitude to Mr Daddy Stibbe (NED), long time supporter of equestrian sport, for his very generous donation towards the Prize money for the FEI World Event Rider Rankings. Mr Stibbe made it possible to give £ 22’000 to the 15 best placed riders on the Global Rankings and to the first placed riders of each zone. An award ceremony will be organised in Great Britain on 17 February 2001 on the occasion of the ball of the Event Riders Association (PERA).

Photo Andres Dibowski by Dirk Caremans