Global Champions Tour Vienna 2012

Global Champions Tour‘s arrival in Vienna at the end of September is already being hailed as the biggest-ever equestrian event in Austria’s history. The Mayor of Vienna, Dr Michael Häupl, described GCT as a major sporting highlight for the capital city of Austria.

It is the first time the sport’s governing body, the FEI, has approved a 5* open-air show jumping event in the splendid setting of Vienna’s City Hall Square (Wiener Rathausplatz), where a grandstand with 4,500 seats will be packed with spectators. The weekend promises to be an entertaining festival of top-level sport and a showcase for the highest skills of horsemanship.
Dr Häupl said: “This top international tournament will highlight Vienna’s position as a sports-friendly metropolis in the heart of Europe.”
Between September 20-23 the world’s elite riders and horses will participate in a series of CSI 5* competitions climaxing in the €300,000 Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Vienna. Other competitions include CSI2* jumping where the riders of the future will try to prove their talent, dressage and a speed derby.
Millions of tourists flock to historic Vienna every year and visitors to the GCT event will also be treated to a special performance by the world-famous Spanish Riding School, which for more than 430 years has based its “haute école” of horsemanship in the city. / Global Champions Tour