Another blow for Australia’s Olympic plans

Australia’s Olympic woes continued when the top show jumping event the Royal Easter Show was cancelled — three months before it was to take place.

The decision to cancel the show — scheduled for 20 March – 2 April 2008 in Sydney — was made due to the indefinite travel bans in different quarantine zones that were imposed following the Equine Influenza outbreak.

The Equestrian Federation of Australia (EFA) believes this lack of show jumping competition practice will hamper Australia’s hopes of fielding their best teams at next year’s Beijing Olympics — despite several riders already being based overseas.

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