>>It's just as fair as
any other sport that requires team participation--hockey, basketball,
volleyball, relay races, etc.
[Reply] But I have never considered any of the equestrian
sports to be “team” sports. Well, other than the horse-rider team, that is.
Showjumping, dressage, eventing all allow for team and individual medals. Why
would it be better for endurance to have only a team medal? At the end of the
day, the wealthier countries, fielding more riders, would always have the
advantage, surely?
>>And since it is something that
would be known going in, no one would be "denied" anything--if a
rider wants to come and ride for the experience and the completion, so be it.
[Reply] If they knew that going in, yes, nobody would be “denied”
anything. I’m just not sure it’s a good way to get people to participate in
the WORLD games.
>>It isn't any
different in terms of that sort of "fairness" than at
continental championships, where riders from off-continent are not allowed to
earn medals. And yet, I know that when I chaired the OC for the Pan-Am in
Bend in '97, we had riders from Denmark and Germany (and I think from another
non-Pan-Am country or two) who cheerfully rode. Had they been in the
first three places, they would not have earned the medals--nor would they have
earned a team medal had their team had one of the best three team times.
(And yes, Denmark
fielded enough riders for a team.) Is that "fair?" Yes,
because it is how the event is set up in the first place, so riders know the
rules going in.
[Reply] You’re quite right about that. I guess I just see
it differently because I live in a third world country and I know how hard it
is, and how much is sacrificed, to get even ONE rider to the games. And I know
how much it would mean to us as a country, and to our sport, if that rider came
home with a medal.
Maybe you Yanks are just so spoiled for medals that it no
longer matters J
Tracey
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