Thursday, 18 March 2021
The FEI has been announced that the Eventing European Championship will take place in Avenches, Switzerland, this year. Competition is set to run from 23–27 September.
Following strong bids from three venues, which also included Boekelo in the Netherlands and Montelibretti in Italy, the FEI Board voted to allocate the championship to Avenches during a video conference yesterday.
“We are pleased to have the Swiss venue of Avenches hosting the 2021 Championships,” said FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez. “Following last year’s postponement of the Tokyo Games, the FEI had originally cancelled European Championships in all three Olympic and Paralympic disciplines so that the focus could remain on the Games in 2021, but our community encouraged us to review that decision and we listened to those voices.
“We are happy to be able to give our community something to look forward to during these difficult days as we tackle the EHV-1 outbreak and work to put in place protocols to get our horses and athletes back to competing again.”
It was announced last October that European Championships would take place for dressage and showjumping in 2021. Both will be hosted at German venues, with showjumping at Riesenbeck from 30 August to 4 September, and dressage at Hagen from 7–12 September.
“This year looks set to be a historic one for equestrian sport,” commented British Equestrian Performance Director, Richard Waygood. “With the addition of an Eventing European Championship to those already announced for dressage and showjumping, and the Games in Tokyo, there will be more opportunities than ever for British athletes and horses to shine – and hopefully bring home medals, too.
“Our eventing athletes are currently making their final preparations for the start of the competition season, which gets underway over the next few weeks, and this announcement gives them something tangible to build towards.”
Haras du Pin, France, was originally due to hold the 2021 Championship, but had to pull out when it proved impossible to reschedule in order to avoid clashing with the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The venue has now been named as the host for the next Eventing European Championships in 2023.