Why London 2012 saved Equestrian

The sport of Equestrian hasn't had an easy ride over the past few years, with constant allegations of doping and the Olympic equestrian venues moving further and further away from the heart of the games, Equestrian sports' Olympic status was nearing danger, until the Games of London.

Cast your mind back to August 2004, the Athens Olympics. Cian O'Connor won Ireland's only Olympic medal in the individual jumping competition, two months later, it was found that Cian O'Connor's horse, Waterford Crystal, tested positive for banned substances: fluphenazine and zuclopenthixol. In July of the following year, the FEI officially stripped O'Connor, and the whole of Ireland of Olympic Gold.
This was a scandal that shook the equestrian world to the core, people realised that cheating in Horse based sports was far easier than in other Olympic disciplines.

In 2005, The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) made an announcement regarding the Equestrian events in 2008. Due to quarantine laws in China, the Equestrian events of the games weren't even held in the juristiction of the same National Olympic Committee as they were pushed out over 1000 miles away from Beijing to Hong Kong. Despite many attempts to get the feel of the Olympics in Hong Kong, many riders commented upon the feel of a World Championships over the Olympics.

Then London 2012 stepped in, and despite options of hosting the Equestrianism at Hickstead, or Badminton, Seb Coe decided upon a temporary arena in Greenwich park, to ensure the sport was close to the heart of the games. This increased attention given to the sport during the Olympics.

The London games were also the first clean games since 2000, despite rigorous drug testing carried out by the FEI in partnership with the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory in Newmarket. The clean games have clearly saved the olympic status of the sport.

Although to a lesser extent I would argue that the change of tides in the dominance of this sport increased media attention. For years the Germans have been untouchable in Equestrian, with the real competition being for the silver and bronze medals. However in the Team Eventing GB and Germany had a tough battle for gold, and although Germany won gold here, the British Team won gold in the team jumping as well as the Team and Individual dressage. The unexpected nature of the equestrian events lead to an exciting competition that intrigued the sporting world.

It is with great pride that it was the games in my home country that kept my favourite sport, equestrian, part of the gala of excitement that is the Olympics.