Designer chosen for Olympic cross-country

The man who built the cross-country course for the 1998 World Championships, Albino Garbari, has been named as the man to build the course for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Albino is basedin Pratoni del Vivaro where the World Championships were staged and is well-known for his work in Italy and outside.

The FEI’s manager for eventing and Olympics, Catrin Norinder, says: “He’s a genius. He’s well-known for building very good courses,fair to both horse and rider.

“He lives for this kind of thing and has already started work on the Olympic course.”

Mike Etherington- Smith who was course-designer at the Sydney Olympics, will be the technical delegate at the Athens Games. His job is to make sure the competition is run according to the international rules laid down by the FEI.