New FEI Athlete Representatives Sought

The names of the new FEI athlete representatives in the seven disciplines are scheduled to be announced in November. They will serve for the next four years—that is, until 2030—and represent their peers on the technical committees of their respective disciplines and on the Athletes’ Committee. They are the ones who bring the athletes’ perspective to decision-making processes and can thus, for example, influence rule changes.

To be eligible to compete, riders must, among other things, prove that they have not violated the FEI’s anti-doping regulations in the past 10 years and have not been involved in any case of prohibited medication use in the past four years.

Show Jumping

In show jumping, the current rider representative, Rodrigo Pessoa—Brazil’s 2004 Olympic champion—is running for reelection. His opponent is Abdulla Al Marri from Dubai, who held a senior position with the police in his home country, served on the Athletes’ Council of the United Arab Emirates National Olympic Committee, and represented the UAE at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Actually, there was another rider from the Emirates on the list of candidates—Sheikh Ali Al Nuaimi—but he withdrew.

Dressage

In dressage, Yvonne Sylvia Losos de Muñiz of the Dominican Republic is running for reelection. Her opponent is Larissa Pauluis of Belgium, who has competed for Belgium in championships since she was a pony rider and has participated in two Olympic Games, in 2021 and 2024.

Eventing

Bettina Hoy’s term is coming to an end in

eventing

. Two candidates have thrown their hats into the ring to succeed her, both highly experienced athletes. One is the Australian Stuart Tinney, who, as a rider, won gold at the Sydney Olympics, among other achievements, and led the Australian team to two World Championships (2018 and 2022) as team manager.

The second candidate, Frenchman Gaspard Maksud—born in 1993 and living in England—is significantly younger than Tinney, who was born in 1964. He has been competing professionally in eventing for ten years; previously, he was a working student with Andrew Nicholson, among others, and has represented France at the 2022 World Championships and the 2023 European Championships, where he finished eighth in the individual competition and made a valuable contribution to the team’s bronze medal. He also has top-ten finishes at Burghley and Badminton to his credit.

Para-Dressage

Until now, Erin Orford from Great Britain has been the one representing the interests of para-dressage riders at the FEI. She is no longer running for election. One candidate is Manon Claeys from Belgium. She already has experience in an official capacity and is currently a member of the Athletes’ Commission at the Belgian Paralympic and Olympic Committee. In addition, she has represented Belgium at two Olympic Games and won several championship medals.

His opponent is Ahmed Sharbatly of Saudi Arabia, the owner of a construction company and a competitor in the 2021 and 2024 Paralympics, the 2018 and 2022 World Championships, and the 2024 Asian Games.

Driving

In the driving division, Luxembourg’s Franz Schiltz is standing for reelection. Other candidates include, among others, German pair driver Sebastian Warneck—a prosecutor with experience from ten World Championship appearances—as well as Italian Cristiano Cividini. For the latter, driving is also a profession. He runs a freight forwarding company and, on the side, has competed in twelve World Championships alone with his single-horse team.

Vaulting

Among the vaulters, former World and European champion Lambert Leclezio—a Frenchman with roots in Mauritius—is standing for reelection. Her only opponent would be the Canadian Averill Saunders, who has World Championship experience both with the team and as an individual athlete and also works as a lunger and coach.

In

endurance sports

, Germany’s Sabrina Arnold could be elected to another term. Also running for the position are Margaret Sleeper of the United States and Julien Lafaure of France.

You can view the key biographical information and cover letters of the new candidates here.