08/05/2005
- Olympic Course-Designer Appointed 
The Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) in 2008
has announced the appointment of Britain’s Mike Etherington-Smith as
designer of the cross-country course for the Olympic Three-Day Event which will
be held at Beas River Country Club, in Hong Kong.
Mike created the highly acclaimed course for the Olympic Three-Day
Event at Sydney, in 2000, and is therefore the first course-designer to officiate
at a second Olympics. (Mike
is pictured below at the right.) “This is a great surprise
and honour,” said Mike Etherington-Smith, who has already visited
the site in his capacity as advisor to BOCOG. “I’ve been greatly impressed
with the site in Hong Kong and am very much looking forward to the challenge of
producing an Olympic standard course on a new site.” The hub of the
equestrian Olympics – main arena dressage and show jumping plus the quarantine
period - will be at the Sha Tin Racecourse and the Hong Kong
Sports Institute, while the cross-country phase of the three-day event
will be a 20-minute drive away at the Beas River Country Club
and on the adjoining Hong Kong Golf Club. Facilities will
include air-conditioned stabling for 300 horses, a main arena to seat 20,000,
an air-conditioned 75 x 35m indoor arena, a 1000m bridle trail and use of the
800m turf gallop at the famous Sha Tin Racecourse. Notes
to editors: Mike Etherington-Smith, 51, is the first person to
be awarded the course-designer’s job at two Olympic Games. He also designs
two of the world’s five 4-star courses, at Kentucky, USA, and Adelaide
(Australia), and is director and course-designer of the forthcoming European
Eventing Championships at Blenheim and the World Cup qualifier at Chatsworth.
He was technical delegate at the Athens Olympics and is a member of the FEI
Eventing Committee. For further information, contact the Blenheim office on 0044
1993 813335 or info@blenheim-horse.co.uk.
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