The Greenwich arena is raised above the ground to protect the park
From the very beginning, Greenwhich Park has been a controversial site to host the equestrian events for the London Olympics, but I held judgement until I could see the park in action. The test event convinced me the Greenwich is a good venue that will serve horses, riders, and fans well at the Olympics. Like any selection, Greenwich has its drawbacks, but the advantages far outweigh the downsides in my opinion.
First and foremost, Greenwich puts the equestrian events in the heart of London and closer to the rest of the Olympics than they have been in recent memory. In an age where I think the Olympic future of equestrianism, particularly eventing, is very much in question, horses and riders will be a big part of the Olympic experience. This can only help our case for the future and will hopefully bring more fans to the sport.
However, Greenwich will never feel exactly like a traditional three-day, particularly the cross-country course. I spent a lot of time talking about the turns and hills on Tuesday, and there is no doubt that the course will have to be more compact than anyone would like. The galloping lanes at the event were so narrow that one rider said he didn’t think he could have gone any faster even if it was the true Olympics.
The single biggest thing that I take away from the weekend is that a big Olympic track is going to be incredibly hard and horses will have to be trained and selected according to their ability to handle that type of track. It’s like Red Hills on half the land. One interesting comment a rider made to me is that Canadian and US riders might be more prepared to handle the course because they deal with more tight and windy courses than riders in Europe. Who knows, maybe the crazy trend of modern US course design will be a blessing.
It is impossible to not mention the Greenwich crowd. The test event main arena seating held 2,000 spectators. The main arena will hold 20,000 spectators for the Games. The bleachers will be huge and steep and cover three sides of the arena, creating an incredible atmosphere for the horses. The cross-country crowd will also be 10 times larger with only 40% more space. The main arena for the Olympics will also be 10 meters wider on every side.
Alec Lochore, eventing organizer for the 2012 Olympics deserves top marks for the test event. There were a few tiny wrinkles that will be smoothed out, such as 3 inches of sand on the Sunday jog strip, delayed scoring, and only two groom shuttles, but it was one of the best organized events I have attended considering its scale.
In a remarkable testament to everyone working on the test event, every single thing that was brought in for the test event will be removed by August 1st. And I mean everything. Every building, jump, piece of fencing, trash can, vendor stand, all of the arenas, everything will be gone in three weeks–and the pentathlon test event hasn’t even finished. The cross-country course was completely gone by Tuesday night–all of it. All of this is being done to provide as little disruption to the members of the Greenwich community who use the park.
All that remained of #7A&B Wednesday morning
To facilitate the removal and to protect the ground further, absolutely nothing from the test event was allowed to blemish the ground–everything was raised on plastic platforms. The arena was built on a platform, the barns were build on a platform. People walked on raised walkways. It was simply incredible and I can’t imagine how much expense was added as a result. [More on protecting the ground from TJR]
Despite all of these efforts, there were still protesters outside of Greenwich Park all week long. The police conveniently made a bus parking spot right in front of the designated protesting area. I wasn’t very impressed by that even though I completely disagree with the protests.
In one amusing story that I heard but can’t verify, apparently one protester snuck into the test event on Tuesday with his protest signs. As the story goes, after 5 minutes of watching XC he asked a fence judge for the nearest trash can for his signs, saying “this is the coolest thing I have ever seen.” I also heard that Piggy was told that a protest sign had her name on it and she went out to chat with the protesters. Apparently they struck up a friendly conversation and Piggy gave them her helmet in exchange for her sign.
Nothing better to do
The British media is making a bit of a kerfuffle (shocking, I know) about comments made by British show jumper David McPherson, who competed in the show jumping demonstration and said “The surface is nowhere near good enough. It needs an enormous amount of work.” The jumpers were worried about the footing being too sticky, but when they are done getting their panties in a bunch they will realize that the footing for the games will be put in well in advance and worked over more to get in just right for their jumping pleasure. [Show jumpers whining to the press]
Here is the latest of our ‘worst videos ever’ series from Greenwich. I have to say that it is not one of my best, but does that make it better or worse that the other worst videas ever? Think about that as you watch:
The test event was an absolutely wonderful experience that I am very sad to see end. I am staying in England and attend the Barbury CIC3* this weekend, where multiple US riders are competing as well as all of the best in Great Britain. I’ll have more on that later and until then, gosh it feels like a Monday. Go eventing.
