While South Africa has largely managed to make up for lost time when it comes to national shows being put on hold due to COVID-19, the rest of the world has not been as fortunate. The Longines Global Champions Tour was one such victim, with the entire 2020 season being scrapped – largely due to the fact that so much travel was required and that many of the countries that host legs of the popular series were high-risk countries dealing with second waves of infection. But there’s good news for international showjumping fans, as Longines has confirmed the 2021 season is a go, with 16 legs including the Longines Super Grand Prix in Prague.
The 2021 season kicks off in Doha from March 4th-6th before heading to Shanghai, with tentative dates of 30 April to 02 May. Following this, it’s Hamburg and Madrid in May, while two of the 3 French legs take place on back-to-back weekends from 27 May to 05 June. Leg 7 takes place in Stockholm, Sweden from 18-20 June, while the Paris leg will happen from 25-27 June. Leg 9 takes place in Monaco from 01-03 July, followed by Berlin three weeks later, London from 13-15 August, and Valkenswaard, Netherlands from 20-22 August. Round 13 will be in Rome in September, followed by Mexico City a week later, and the final leg takes place in New York – the season final. The winners from each Grand Prix will then head to Prague in the Czech Republic from 18-21 November for the Longines GC Prague Playoffs.
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A few venues are notably excluded, like the popular Miami Beach leg. The 2021 season will take place under strict health and safety protocols, with Jan Tops, President of the LGCT and GCL stating that they are “working closely with our host cities and organising partners to deliver a welcome return to top-level show jumping with robust health and safety protocols. I would like to thank everyone for their continued support including our sponsors and team owners.”
Events will be live-streamed to enable viewing of the GCL from across the world, but a new Global Champions website has also been launched to help fans interact and keep track of relevant information.
Don’t forget, you could still take home a piece of the Global Champions Tour, as our competition to win a full set of GCL jumping boots from Lami-Cell closes this Sunday.
-The JumpOff-
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