Equestrian Eventing at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Dates 9 – 12 August 2008
Medal Events 2

The 2008 equestrian events were all held in Hong Kong, China, at the Hong Kong Equestrian Centre. It was opened in 1982 by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, when Hong Kong was a British protectorate. The original name was the Jubilee Sports Centre, but it was renamed in 1991 as the Hong Kong Sports Institute. The name Hong Kong Equestrian Centre was used during the 2008 Olympics. The centre is located in the Fo Tan, Sha Tin district of Hong Kong, on reclaimed land on the bank of the Shing Mun River, next to the Sha Tin Racecourse.

Hong Kong was chosen because Beijing could not guarantee a disease-free zone for the horses, but there were significant quarantine and safety measures that still needed to be taken. These included a 60-day pre-export residency in an approved country, a compulsory veterinary supervision for 30 days prior to export, a 7-day pre-export quarantine, and a 10-day post-arrival isolation with no permitted contact between Olympic and local horses.

After the drug problems that had affected equestrian in Athina, Beijing turned out to be worse. There were four doping positives in 2004, and there would eventually be seven in 2008. Team and individual eventing competitions were held in Beijing, and they were conducted simultaneously. Hinrich Romeike won the individual title and led Germany to the team gold medal.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
Individual, Open Olympic 9 – 12 August 2008 69 24
Team, Open Olympic 9 – 12 August 2008 52 11
69 (41/28) 24 (22/13)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Individual, Open Hinrich RomeikeGER Gina MilesUSA Tina CookGBR
Team, Open GermanyGER AustraliaAUS Great BritainGBR

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Germany GER 2 0 0 2
Australia AUS 0 1 0 1
United States USA 0 1 0 1
Great Britain GBR 0 0 2 2