Global Champions Tour
The Global Champions Tour (GCT) is an annual show jumping series that comprises of venues or legs held in beautiful venues and capital cities around the world. The title sponsor is Longines and other associated sponsors include Massimo Dutti, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Eurosport. Greek heiress and show jumper Athina Onassis de Miranda is Patroness of the Tour and fellow competitor and member of the Monaco royal family Charlotte Casiraghi is Honorary President of the Jumping International de Monte-Carlo leg of the Tour.[1]
Founded in 2006 by the Olympic gold medalist Jan Tops, the Longines Global Champions Tour brings together the top 40 riders in the FEI Longines rankings, who compete in a series of shows that aim to provide 'the best in showjumping'. In 2010, the leader of the LGCT rankings (see Rules below) received €300,000 making it the biggest single prize in any of the three Olympic equestrian disciplines (dressage, eventing and showjumping). During this season, the eventual champion, Marcus Ehning, won over €500,000 in total prize money over the nine shows.[2] Since then the prize money levels have continued to increase, making the Longines Global Champions Tour one of, if not the, richest equestrian sporting series in the world.
Since 2007, all LGCT events have been held as CSI 5*. This means that under FEI rules they are championship level events. The LGCT classes are run under FEI rules but the governing body has no part in the organisation of the series, aside from ratifying the schedule. The LGCT is not an FEI series like the World Cup or the Nations Cup competitions.
Rules
The overall standings are determined by the placement of the rider in the Grand Prix competitions of the Longines Global Champions Tour. The scoring is carried out as follows:
| Competition Placing | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| Points Scored | 40 | 37 | 35 | 33 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
Points won by competitors who are tied are added together and then divided equally. Fifty percent of the rider's best results count towards their overall LGCT ranking classification, thus with 14 events in 2014, seven of the riders best results count towards their overall ranking.
In 2008 and 2009, the winner was determined in a separate final. The top 25 riders of this season overall standings were allowed to participate in the final.
In 2006 and 2007, and again from 2010 the winner is determined by the overall standings of the season.
Winners
| Year | Champion | Nation |
| 2006 | Ludo Philippaerts | .svg.png){kind=small} Belgium |
| 2007 | Albert Zoer |  Netherlands |
| 2008 | Jessica Kürten |  Ireland |
| 2009 | Michel Robert |  France |
| 2010 | Marcus Ehning |  Germany |
| 2011 | Edwina Tops-Alexander |  Australia |
| 2012 | Edwina Tops-Alexander | Australia |
| 2013 | Scott Brash |  United Kingdom |
in 2013, Britain's Scott Brash became the first rider to do the double and win the final Grand Prix and the Championship in one go - all on his 28th birthday (23rd November). Brash, riding his 2012 Olympic gold medal-winning horse Hello Sanctos, netted a cool €443,000 in prize money for the two wins [3]. The favourite for the title win, Germany's Christian Ahlmann was relegated to second place after collecting a single time fault in the second round of the Grand Prix. Though Brash had been named season Champion before his final jump-off round, he held his nerve to take on living legends Ludger Beerbaum and Marcus Ehning to claim victory with a fast clear round. Hello Sanctos was also named 2013 LGCT Horse of the Year, lowering just one rail throughout his time on the LGCT circuit that season.
Venues of Longines Global Champions Tour competitions
The current stations of the 2014 Longines Global Champions Tour are:[4]
- Antwerp - Port of Antwerp, a venue since 2014
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Madrid - Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, a venue since 2013 - Hamburg – German show jumping and dressage derby, a venue since 2008
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Shanghai - Pudong New Area, a venue since 2014 - Cannes - La Croisette, venue since 2006
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Monte Carlo - Port Hercules, a venue since 2006 - Paris - Champ de Mars, a venue since 2014
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Cascais near Estoril - Hipódromo Manuel Possolo, a venue since 2006 - Chantilly - Chantilly Racecourse, a venue since 2010
- Valkenswaard - Stal Tops, a venue since 2006
- London - Horse Guards Parade Ground, a venue since 2014
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Lausanne - The marina, a venue since 2012 -
Vienna - Magna Racino, a venue since 2014 -
Doha - Al Shaqab, a venue since 2008
Former venues of the Longines Global Champions Tour are:
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Wellington (Florida) Winter Equestrian Festival, Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC), a venue in 2006 and 2007 - Stud Zangersheide near Lanaken EU Open Masters and Future Masters, a venue in 2006
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Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre near Athens, a venue in 2007 -
Arezzo, Arezzo Equestrian Centre, a venue from 2007 to 2009 - La Mandria near Turino, a venue in 2010
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Rio de Janeiro Athina Onassis International Horse Show, Sociedade Hípica Brasileira in Rio de Janeiro, a venue from 2009 to 2011 - Valencia Oliva Nova Beach and Golf Resort, a venue from 2010 to 2012
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Abu Dhabi, Al-Forsan International Sports Resort, a venue 2011 and 2012 - Wiesbaden Pfingstturnier, Schlosspark Biebrich, a venue for 2012 and 2013
- London, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a venue in 2013
References
- ↑ Letter from Athina Onassis de Miranda, Global Champions Tour official website
- ↑ Lulu Kyriacou, GCT Press Team and British Show Jumping Association
- ↑ http://www.globalchampionstour.com/events/2013/doha/news/962/brash-makes-it-a-birthday-double-winning-championship-and-doha-grand-prix/
- ↑ http://www.globalchampionstour.com/news/2014/970/sensational-2014-longines-global-champions-tour-season-revealed/