Equestrian Vaulting (figure riding)
Men's Equestrian Vaulting was an equestrian event contested as a part of the 1920 Summer Olympics. It was called figure riding or vaulting (or in French l'epreuve de voltige, meaning the acrobatic event). Essentially, it is gymnastics and dance on horseback. It was the only time the event was conducted in the Olympics after which it was discontinued.
The event consisted of four legs. In the first leg, riders had to jump onto the horse from a standing position and then jump back to the ground. Athletes had to repeat the same jump and back from both the left side and the right side. The second leg was to jump over the horses. Jump over one and more horses with a salto was third. Fourth leg was to ride with a walking horse.
Only three nations, Belgium, France and Sweden, participated in the event with a total of 18 athletes, who were all Army officers. Athletes from Belgium put on a strong performance by taking two spots at the podium. Daniël Bouckaert of Belgium won the gold medal finishing with a total of 30 points. Field from France took the silver with a 29.5 points finish. The bronze medal went to Louis Finet of Belgium who scored 29.00 points. Though five athletes took part from Sweden, they were no match to the athletes from Belgium and France and all five participants finished in the last five spots.
1920 Figure Riding Results
Individual
- Bouckaert BEL - 30.500
- Field FRA - 29.500
- Finet BEL - 29.000
Team
- Belgium - 87.500
- France - 81.083
- Sweden - 59.416
Related Pages
- Other Discontinued Equestrian Events
- The Sport of Equestrian Vaulting
- Full list of all Discontinued Events
- Equestrian at the Olympic Games
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