cfive days of competitions, spectacular jumps, breathtaking head and head. They were held in Milan, at the Snai San Siro racetrack in Milan, i Fei Jumping European ChampionshipThe Equestrian Show Jumping European Championship: 85 riders representing 24 nations divided into fifteen teamsstaged from 31 August to 3 September 2023.
The winner of the individual jumping final Steve Guerdat with Dynamix de Belheme (SUI) on Sunday 3 September 2023 at the FEI Jumping European Championship Milano 2023. ©MArgenziano
The races awarded i individual European titles and in teams, plus three passes for the Paris 2024 Olympics. This edition, the 37th ever and the third in Italy after Rome 1963 and San Patrignano 2005, was organized by Epiqua (Snaitech), RCS Sports & Events, Sport e Salute and Fise (Italian Equestrian Sports Federation).
At the center of the project the redevelopment of the Snai San Siro racecourse as a center for horse racing and other equestrian sports. And it is precisely the competition field with a rectangular plan, already tested with the Milan Jumping Cup, that hosts the top of the obstacles with sold out places.
Lap of Honor Steve Guerdat on Dynamix de Belheme (SUI). © MArgenziano
Alongside the competitions, the Milano GreenVillage, an area inside the Hippodromebetween the monumental fountain and the historic grandstands organized for cultural activities, for food and for sports insights with free admission.
The Cairo-RCS cocktail
As part of this major sporting event, a cocktail was organized by the Cairo-RCS Media Group at the Palazzina del Peso of the Hippodrome on Thursday evening, 31 August, with the partners, the media and the athletes of the event which ended on Sunday afternoon with the individual final.
Women at the center of the European Championships
The specialty of Horse riding show jumping is one of the few sports in which women and men compete as equals. And this event also counts many prominent women in managerial positions. From Laura Campopianomanager of Snaitech and event director since the Milan Jumping Cup and the European Championship, a Sara Riffeser Montipublisher, organizer of major events in equestrian sports and more, sport director of the European Championship, Piazza di Siena and no different adventure twin of the Campopiano, with which it has shared the challenge of the return of equestrian sports since day one elite in Milan.
Laura Campopiano Director of Business Development & Communications Snaitech with Martina Riva City Councilor Sport Milan
We asked them for the thrill of the definitive take-off and that is the organization of a European Championship, passing through the MJC first with three and then with four stars. «When General Secretary Sabrina Ibanez – recalled Campopiano – officially opened this European Championship, the last years of this challenge passed before me and all the people who took it up at the speed of light, from the first steps in the realization of the Milano Jumping Cup up to this goal, the highest possible in terms of continental. I tried to contain the emotion, but it was impossible, believe me”.
Already from the four-star MJC, RCS Sport, Fise and Sport e Salute had already boarded on the stage of the Teatro del Cavallo in Milan. For the latter in the organizational board of the European figure Valeria Panzironi, lawyer and director of Strategies, development and shared services of Sport and Health. For her it was an immersive experience in all aspects of the construction of the event, in perfect harmony with Riffeser and Campopiano: «Being involved in the planning and implementation phase of this European Championship was fun and particularly significant, because it represents a turning point in my professional career in the world of sport. A path that has broadened my perspectives, literally taking me into the field to compete in an activity that goes beyond my traditional experience and in the direction of a more strategic and planning managerial role».
Paula Caruso. Press Office
In a city and a region where sport is governed by women, da Lara Magonthe Undersecretary for Sport and Youth of the Region, a Martina Rivaspirited councilor for Sport and Tourism of the municipality of Milan and very committed to supporting this appointment and the other major sporting events of the Milanese summer, the fact that the European having a female ‘technical government’ appears as a completely natural fact. «The thing that makes me most proud – reflects Riva – is that, for the city of Milan, international level sport has become almost a natural fact and an integral part of our social fabric regardless of the discipline. This means that in recent years we have worked in the right direction».
Guests at the festival
Famous TV faces, politicians, singers, former footballers, but also influencers and journalists. At the Snai Siro Racecourse, for the fifth and final day of “Italia. Open to wonder-FEI Jumping European Championship 2023”, the European Show Jumping Championship which ended today in Milan, there was an authentic parade of VIPs. Who didn’t want to miss the evolutions of riders and amazons chasing the continental title in the individual competition.
The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, did the honors: «I think our city is a good ‘product’, because it has a history, it has so much present and so much future», he said, «in all of this sport is fundamental, now everyone is in the world of sport. Our method is always this: to associate the city’s intrinsic value with events».
Antonella Clerici with Beppe Sala_mayor of Milan
He posed for a souvenir photo with the mayor – and with Fise president Marco Di Paola – Antonella Clerici, one of the most popular faces of Italian TV. “My partner is a horse breeder and my daughter rides”, said the presenter of ‘It’s always noon’ on Raiuno, “my house there are always horses and they are always surrounded by these wonderful animals, which I love very much».
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