The individual
show jumping
Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...
event, part of the
equestrian program at the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, was held from 29 July to 1 August 1996 at the
Georgia International Horse Park
The Georgia International Horse Park (referred to by locals as The Horse Park) is located in Conyers, Georgia, United States, 30 miles (50 km) east of Atlanta.
History
Due to the growth of Rockdale County, Georgia, in the late 1980s, the cou ...
, in
Conyers, Georgia
Conyers is a city and the county seat of Rockdale County, Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of downtown Atlanta and is a part of the Metro Atlanta, Atlanta metropolitan area. As of 2020 United States census, 202 ...
. Like all other
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
*Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
events, the jumping competition was mixed gender, with both male and female athletes competing in the same division.
There were 82 competitors from 24 nations.
[ Each nation could have up to 4 riders. The event was won by Ulrich Kirchhoff of Germany, the nation's second consecutive victory in the individual jumping (and third overall, tying Italy for second-most all-time after France's four). It was the fourth consecutive Games at which Germany competed that the nation reached the podium in the event—gold in 1936 and bronze in 1952 (with no Games in 1940 or 1944, Germany disinvited in 1948, and either United Team of Germany or separate West Germany and East Germany teams competing from 1956 to 1988), before gold again in 1992 and 1996. The silver medal went to Wilhelm Melliger of Switzerland and the bronze to Alexandra Ledermann of France, the two of whom came out on top of a seven-way jump-off for second place.
]
Background
This was the 20th appearance of the event, which had first been held at the 1900 Summer Olympics
The 1900 Summer Olympics (), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closin ...
and has been held at every Summer Olympics at which equestrian sports have been featured (that is, excluding 1896, 1904, and 1908). It is the oldest event on the current programme, the only one that was held in 1900.Jan Tops
Johannes Augustinus Petrus "Jan" Tops (born 5 April 1961) is an equestrian from the Netherlands, who won the gold medal in the team jumping event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain riding Top Gun. He did so alongside Pie ...
of the Netherlands, sixth-place finisher Maria Gretzer of Sweden, seventh-place finisher Ludo Philippaerts of Belgium, ninth-place finisher Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil, and tenth-place finisher Michael Matz
Michael R. Matz (born January 23, 1951) is an Americans, American horse trainer, race horse trainer and former Equestrian at the Summer Olympics, Olympic equestrian team member who was inducted into the show jumping Hall of Fame. He lives in ...
of the United States. The reigning World Champion was Franke Sloothaak
Franke Sloothaak (born 2 February 1958 in Heerenveen, the Netherlands) is a German show jumping champion, Olympic champion from 1988 and 1996.
Olympic Record
Sloothaak competed for West Germany at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, ...
of Germany.[
Saudi Arabia made its debut in the event. France competed for the 18th time, most of any nation.
]
Competition format
The competition underwent a smaller format change than in the two previous Games. The three-run qualifying and two-run final continued, though the number of finalists was reduced to 25 (from half the field) and there was no cut during the qualifying round or during the final round (only between qualifying and the final). The qualifying round also returned to the traditional fault scoring, rather than the positive points system used in 1988 and 1992.
All riders competed in the three runs of the qualifying round. The three-run total counted as the qualifying score. The top 25 riders advanced to the final, with a maximum of three riders per nation. The final consisted of two runs. The total of the two runs was used for the final score. A jump-off would be used if necessary to break ties for medal positions; other ties would not be broken.[
]
Schedule
All times are Eastern Daylight Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico.
* Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behin ...
( UTC-4)
Results
Top 25 riders advanced to the final round, maximum of three riders per nation. Qualification round held 21 to 24 July. All scores were reset to zero after the third qualifying round. Final held 4 August 1996. 7 riders tied for second so an additional jump-off round was held.
The Argentine team was disqualified for animal cruelty during training.[
]
References
External links
Official Report of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Equestrian at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Individual jumping
Equestrian events at the 1996 Summer Olympics