With a year to go until the grand opening, is the organising committee for the Alltech™ FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 remaining faithful to its road map?
Laurent Beauvais: Yes. We’re in line with the plan drawn up during the organising committee’s first year of work. We’re midway through a sequence of three preparatory events in driving and eventing. We’re preparing for the meeting of the project managers from the participating nations, which is due to take place on 27 and 28 August in Caen, at the new head office of one of our partners, the Crédit Agricole de Normandie. Added to that, the initial results from the ticket office sales, which opened on 6 June, are proving to be very encouraging. We’ve chosen to appropriate French riding’s motto: “Calm, forward and straight”. As such we’re moving forward without euphoria or anguish, with the daily focus on delivering an event in a year’s time, that is not only a premier sporting event in France in 2014, but also a major equestrian sports festival for riders, riding fans and all those who have a personal involvement with the horse world in Normandy and elsewhere.
Going back to the three preparatory events hosted in August on the sites for the next World Equestrian Games, how do you rate them?
Fabien Grobon: These first three events weren’t a dress rehearsal, but rather an opportunity to test and simulate certain key aspects of the organisation. That’s why we chose to contest them without the public in 2-star competitions and hence of a lower standard than those planned for the World Equestrian Games. In eventing, the aim was to test the track at Le Pin National Stud and the transportation of horses between Orne and Caen. The feedback from the French and international riders has been very positive. Furthermore, in the endurance event, we were keen to carry out a test of the track in international competition conditions. The competitors found it to be both exciting and a good barometer for performance. Finally, the driving event gives us the chance to check the quality of the artificial surface, which is the first of its kind at the World Equestrian Games. We’ll be closely monitoring the feedback we get from the leading forces of the driving competition after tomorrow’s racing.
Have the preparatory events enabled your organisation to be put to the test too?
Laurent Beauvais: Indeed they have. Around fifty full-time staff from the organising committee have been working with around 600 volunteers. In this way, we switched to operational mode on the sites for three weeks, which is how we’ll work on a permanent basis from April 2014.
How’s the ticketing progressing?
Fabien Grobon: We were hoping to sell 100,000 seats before the end of 2013. Since the opening of the first phase of sales on 6 June, reserved for French members and foreign federations, we currently stand at 85,000 seats already bought, around 50,000 of which are overseas. This first phase has also enabled the usability and efficiency of our seat booking system to be verified as it boasts a highly innovative design intended for online purchasing on all media, including mobiles and tablets.
What are the next major dates in preparation for the Alltech™ FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy?
Fabien Grobon: The first is coming up very soon as it’s the project managers’ meeting for the participating nations on 27 and 28 August. We’ll play host to around forty out of the sixty or so countries expected to compete next year. In November, we switch to the second phase of ticket sales, still in the form of a pass, but this time for the general public. The next event will take place in April, which will be an important date on two counts: the start of individual ticket sales and the transfer of the organising teams to the competition sites.
Where are you at with the event’s promotion?
Laurent Beauvais: It’s already begun, but the pace will move up a gear over the next few months. We’re going to aim at an increasingly wide audience in Normandy, France and overseas, explaining to them that the World Equestrian Games promise to be a major equestrian sports festival, as well as a unique and extra sporting event for the network of fans of this sport. We’ve already gone to press about stories of the riders and the horses, and we’ll continue with that. We’re also going to unveil some surprises related to the opening ceremony and the music festival programme…
Fabien Grobon: Next year, in Normandy, the public is likely to be split between the people who’ll say “I was there”, and those who will reply “I should have been there.”
REVIEW OF THE KEY MOMENTS ON THE ROAD TO THE ALLTECH™ FEI WORLD EQUESTRIAN GAMES 2014 IN NORMANDY
March 2009: Awarding of the 2014 edition of the World Equestrian Games to Normandy, France for the first time
June – September 2010: Constitution of the Normandie 2014 Organising Committee chaired by Laurent Beauvais and the appointment of Fabien Grobon, who manages the Organising Committee
October 2010: The French delegation of the Organising Committee goes to Lexington
July 2011: Alltech (nutrition and animal health) becomes the title partner for the 2014 edition
November 2011: D-1,000 till the launch of the event logo and countdown
December 2011: Appointment of Laurent Cellier, director of Sports
July 2011: Appointment of the providers of sporting surfaces
May 2012: First seminar of the International Equestrian Sports Federation/Organising Committee
September 2012: Appointment of Martine Nemecek, director of the Sites
February 2013: Appointment of Anne Couroucé-Malblanc, vet-coordinator and choice of the freight agent
March 2013: Opening of the accommodation booking centre
March 2013: Hosting of the first delegation of participating nations
April 2013: D-500, launch of the volunteer programme
June 2013: Opening of the ticketing for members
July 2013: End of the work on the cross-country track at Le Pin National Stud
August 2013: Preparatory events at three of the competition sites and D-365
Press contact – Comité d’Organisation Normandie 2014 (Organising Committee for Normandy 2014)
E-mail : presse@normandie2014.com
Tel. +33 (0)1 47 72 81 41 – Mob. +33 (0)6 18 41 30 28 |
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About the Alltech™ FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy
The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy will pave the way, in France, to other large-scale events: the Euro football 2016, the Handball Worlds 2017 and the Ryder Cup of golf 2018. Hosted every four years, alternating with the Olympic Games, under the aegis of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), the World Equestrian Games are the largest equestrian event in the world. They’ll be held from 23 August to 7 September 2014. The event groups together eight disciplines over fifteen days of competition: Showjumping, Dressage, Eventing, Driving, Reining, Vaulting, Endurance and Para- Dressage. It brings together over 60 nations and nearly 1,000 competitors to showcase their talent to an expected 500,000 spectators expected on top-level equestrian competition grounds.
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