The world’s equestrian elite competes at the CSIO Barcelona 2023
Barcelona, September 27th
Tomorrow, Thursday, September 28th, marks the beginning of CSIO Barcelona 2023. For the 10th consecutive year, the international show jumping competition will host the Longines FEI Jumping NationsCup™ world finals, the most important equestrian event on the international calendar, at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona.
As announced this morning during the official presentation held in the new grandstand of the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona, the most prominent teams of the moment, such as Germany, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Uzbekistan, and Spain as the host country, will compete for the world title until Sunday, October 1st. On an individual level, the competition will also feature riders from Colombia, Ecuador, and Sweden.
CSIO Barcelona will kick off with the qualifying first round for the Nations Cup world final. The top eight teams will advance directly to the final on Sunday, October 1st, while the others will compete in the Longines Challenge Cup on the night of Saturday, September 30th.
In addition to the team final competitions, CSIO Barcelona will host seven individual competitions, including the City of Barcelona Trophy on Friday night and the Queen’s Cup – Segura Viudas Trophy on Saturday. This edition of the event will also include a CSI1* with competitions on Friday and Saturday starting at 11:00 AM, and on Sunday at 10:30 AM.
One of the main attractions of this edition is the final Olympic spot up for grabs during the event. Argentina, Italy, the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and Uzbekistan come to Barcelona with their best representatives to secure this coveted spot.
As highlighted during the presentation by Santiago Merce, president of CSIO Barcelona, “CSIO Barcelona features the participation of seven of the top ten riders in the world this year: Swedish rider Henrik von Eckermann (1), France’s Julien Epaillard (2), Swiss rider Steve Guerdat (3), his compatriot Martin Fuchs (5), American rider Mclain Ward (6), Harrie Smolders from the Netherlands (7), and French rider Simon Delestre (9).” He also revealed the names of the Spanish quintet, Eduardo Álvarez Aznar, Carolina Aresu, Alberto Márquez Galobardes, Mariano Martínez Bastida, and Santiago Núñez Riva, who will participate as the hosts.
In his welcome remarks, Curro Espinós highlighted the new grandstand that will preside over the competition: “We have built one of the best equestrian grandstands in the world, in addition to being modern and sustainable. The Club has made the largest investment in its history, and time will thank us with four fantastic days.” The president of the RC Polo expressed “enormous gratitude to the FEI, Longines, and the rest of the sponsors. When the Club and institutions work together, we are unstoppable,” he added.
