Equestrian Jumping at the 2008 Summer Olympics

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.

Individual jumping and the Grand Prix de Nations were held at the 2008 Olympics, but they were conducted as separate competitions. The individual jumping’s first two qualifying phases started the jumping, followed by the Grand Prix de Nations, and the final round of jumping was contested on the final day of equestrianism in Beijing. Canada’s Eric Lamaze won the individual gold medal, while the United States repeated in the team event.