Versailles Olympic venue ‘trying wonderful’ as British horses head to France

The Olympics are about to kick off – and “it’s getting very thrilling” because the equestrian occasion venue close to Paris prepares to welcome rivals this week.

H&H spoke to British Equestrian’s (BEF) head of efficiency assist Amanda Evans and head of operations and logistics Sophie Thomas on Monday (22 July), because the British Olympic occasion horses had been on their method to France on LeShuttle. They had been set to remain in personal stabling to interrupt up the journey, earlier than heading to the venue at Versailles when the stables open on Wednesday (24 July).

One of many British vehicles arrives in France. Credit score: LeShuttle.

Ms Evans and Ms Thomas had been among the many assist workforce that had travelled forward to Paris, to organize for the Brits’ arrivals.

“We’ve been busy setting every thing up prepared for the arrival of the workforce, so it’s getting very thrilling now and all feels very actual,” mentioned Ms Evans. “It’s a stunning setting.”

Ms Thomas added: “I had boots on the bottom on the Versailles venue yesterday [Sunday], and it’s trying wonderful, it’s an unbelievable venue. To go from primarily a greenfield web site, to what they’ve constructed now could be unbelievable, as a result of every thing is non permanent, however it appears as if [the organisers] have considered every thing.

“There are a great deal of wash bays and cooling alternatives – it ticks all of the packing containers for horses. The arenas are all down and look wonderful. The steady barns had been noticeably cooler while you walked into them from outdoors.”

She added that the British riders shall be staying outdoors the Olympic Village “purely based mostly on journey time”, and are as an alternative in a lodge round 25 minutes from the venue. The grooms shall be staying on-site in a lodge, which opened two months in the past, and in chalets or of their lorries.

“On Wednesday, when everyone is on the venue, and the horses arrive, and all of the athletes are there, it should simply explode into life,” mentioned Ms Thomas.

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H&H senior information author

Lucy is an skilled information journalist, reporter and presenter. Since becoming a member of the Horse & Hound workforce in 2015, Lucy has reported from main world sporting occasions together with the Tokyo Paralympic Video games and a number of European Championships, in addition to Badminton, Burghley and London, to call just a few. She has lined present affairs and sports activities information throughout the complete spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, in addition to human and equine welfare, business information and court docket instances.