French Olympian Simon Delestre regains top spot in Longines Rankings
Press release FEI – Olympic athlete Simon Delestre is back as world number one, having leapt to the top of the Longines Rankings, the world Jumping rankings. The Frenchman took over the number one slot in March of this year from London 2012 Olympic team gold medalist Scott Brash, ending the Briton’s 11-month reign at the top of the leaderboard.Three-time Olympian McLain Ward (USA), who held pole position in last month’s Longines rankings, now drops back to third behind Germany’s Christian Ahlmann, who is just 21 points behind Delestre.
Rio in sight
The French superstar Delestre was recently named with two horses, Qlassic Bois Margot and Ryan des Hayettes, on the long list for the French team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, now just 31 days away. Also named for the French squad was world number four Pénélope Leprevost with horses Vagabond de la Pomme and Flora de Mariposa.
Simon Delestre – early career
Simon Delestre has been lived and breathed equestrian sport since his childhood, when he watched his father Marcel compete.
His father, a national pony Jumping coach, and his close relationship with the pony Panama Cassou, owned by the French National Stud, were key to Delestre’s early career success. He won back-to-back national pony Jumping championships in 1994 and 1995. In 1999, he scored individual gold at the French Junior Championships and team bronze at the FEI European Junior Jumping Championships. The following year, he won team gold at the FEI European Jumping Championships for Young Riders and in 2009 stood top of the individual podium at the Mediterranean Games.
Longines FEI World Ranking List Jumping – Top 50
1.DELESTRE, Simon (FRA) 3170
2.AHLMANN, Christian (GER) 3149
3.WARD, Mclain (USA) 3049
4.LEPREVOST, Penelope (FRA) 2971
5.FARRINGTON, Kent (USA) 2915
6.BRASH, Scott (GBR) 2670
7.STAUT, Kevin (FRA) 2660
8.DEUSSER, Daniel (GER) 2646
9.ALLEN, Bertram (IRL) 2528
10.WATHELET, Gregory (BEL) 2515
11.MADDEN, Elizabeth (USA) 2442
12.EHNING, Marcus (GER) 2376
13.BEERBAUM, Ludger (GER) 2318
14.TOPS-ALEXANDER, Edwina (AUS) 2285
15.BENGTSSON, Rolf-Göran (SWE) 2277
16.LAMAZE, Eric (CAN) 2229
17.DELAVEAU, Patrice (FRA) 2210
18.SMOLDERS, Harrie (NED) 2191
19.GUERDAT, Steve (SUI) 2178
20.GAUDIANO, Emanuele (ITA) 2175
21.MICHAELS-BEERBAUM, Meredith (GER) 2158
22.LYNCH, Denis (IRL) 2086
23.SWAIL, Conor (IRL) 2085
23.BOST, Roger Yves (FRA) 2085
23.DINIZ, Luciana (POR) 2085
26.DREHER, Hans-Dieter (GER) 2050
27.WHITAKER, John (GBR) 2015
28.GUERY, Jérôme (BEL) 2005
29.PHILIPPAERTS, Olivier (BEL) 1993
30.KRAUT, Laura (USA) 1980
31.KUTSCHER, Marco (GER) 1953
32.ALSHARBATLY, Abdullah (KSA) 1950
33.VAN DER VLEUTEN, Maikel (NED) 1943
34.HOUGH, Lauren (USA) 1874
35.MAHER, Ben (GBR) 1858
36.TOWELL, Jack (USA) 1855
37.RIVETTI, Cassio (UKR) 1847
38.PHILIPPAERTS, Nicola (BEL) 1825
39.BUCCI, Piergiorgio (ITA) 1823
40.SCHWIZER, Pius (SUI) 1815
41.MINIKUS, Todd (USA) 1800
42.RENWICK, Laura (GBR) 1780
43.DUGUET, Romain (SUI) 1770
44.VON ECKERMANN, Henrik (SWE) 1765
45.AL THANI, Sheikh Ali (QAT) 1750
46.FOSTER, Tiffany (CAN) 1743
46.SPRUNGER, Janika (SUI) 1743
48.VRIELING, Jur (NED) 1720
49.O’CONNOR, Cian (IRL) 1703
50.OUADDAR, Abdelkebir (MAR) 168
Longines FEI World Ranking List Jumping »
Source: Press release FEI
