March 29, 2024

Nations Cup final in Spain - will Swiss show jumpers get the Olympic ticket at the second attempt?  - Sports

Nations Cup final in Spain – will Swiss show jumpers get the Olympic ticket at the second attempt? – Sports

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Switzerland wants to make up for lost time: For Olympic qualifiers, show jumpers “only” must beat the Belgians in the Nations Cup final.

Caption:

Clean the first round in Spain

Pius Schweizer.

imago photos / Bildbyran

The Swiss national show jumping team overcame the first hurdle in the Nations Cup final in Barcelona on Thursday by qualifying for the final. In the Spanish capital, the quartet qualified as the fifth-placed nation for the top-eight final.

And for the first time, a ticket to the 2024 Olympics in Paris will also be awarded to the Nations Cup final – and Switzerland is watching closely. He missed the World Championships in August to secure a starting place early and at the first opportunity. So now is the next opportunity.

Among the other 7 teams in the final, Belgium is the only team still fighting for the starting place. All the other finalists have already secured their place: France, as the host nation for the upcoming matches, has qualified in advance. Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain won the right to participate in the World Cup.

Spain – who also qualified for the final on Sunday – cannot get an Olympic ticket due to a special regulation. As the host nation of the Nations Cup final, the Spanish national team is seeded for the final with no previous results – but they can’t compete for the Olympics.

Switzerland or Belgium?

Whoever gets a better rating than Switzerland or Belgium gets a ticket for the 2024 Olympics. The final starts again from scratch. With Jerome Guerre, only one rider from the World Championship team will compete for the Belgian national team. The World Championship silver-medal stallion “Quel Homme de Hus” remained in the lead in the first round of the final tournament.

In the Swiss team, only Pius Schweizer managed this with “Vancouver de Lanlord”. Edward Schmitz/Kono and Martin Fox/Conner Guy both had prolapses. Niklausruechi, who bounced with Cardano CH in the first round, will be replaced by Steve Guerdat in the final. Team boss Michel Sorge says: “Roche would not be replaced because it was the neglected result. The plan from the start was that the ‘Venard de Cerisy’ would only be used on Sundays. That is why Steve Guerdat is riding for the team on the last day.”

This is what we want. With this team we can take center stage on Sunday.

If Switzerland stays behind Belgium in the final, they will still have two more chances to qualify for the Olympics. Three more places will be awarded at the European Championships in Milan next August, with the last place being in the Nations Cup final in 2023.

But it would definitely be better to secure it this year. Michel Sorge: “This is what we want. With this team we can take center stage on Sunday.”

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