Beijing Olympic Course Designer Appointed

The Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) in 2008 has announced the appointment of Britain’s Mike Etherington-Smith as designer of the cross-country course for the Olympic three-day event which will be held at Beas River Country Club in Hong Kong.

Etherington-Smith created the highly acclaimed course for the Olympic three-day event at Sydney in 2000 and is therefore the first course-designer to officiate at a second Olympics.

“This is a great surprise and honour,” said Mike Etherington-Smith, who has already visited the site in his capacity as advisor to BOCOG. “I’ve been greatly impressed with the site in Hong Kong and am very much looking forward to the challenge of producing an Olympic standard course on a new site.”

The hub of the equestrian Olympics – main arena dressage and show jumping plus the quarantine period - will be at the Sha Tin Racecourse and the Hong Kong Sports Institute, while the cross-country phase of the three-day event will be a 20-minute drive away at the Beas River Country Club and on the adjoining Hong Kong Golf Club.

Facilities will include air-conditioned stabling for 300 horses, a main arena to seat 20,000, an air-conditioned 75 x 35m indoor arena, a 1000m bridle trail and use of the 800m turf gallop at the famous Sha Tin racetrack.

Mike Etherington-Smith, 51, is the first person to be awarded the course-designer’s job at two Olympic Games. He also designs two of the world’s five 4-star courses, at Kentucky, USA, and Adelaide (Australia), and is director and course-designer of the forthcoming European Eventing Championships at Blenheim and the World Cup qualifier at Chatsworth. He was technical delegate at the Athens Olympics and is a member of the FEI Eventing Committee.