FEI Rider Rankings 2 and 3 for Team Price Copyright Photo: Libby Law Photography

New Zealand’s golden eventing couple, Tim and Jonelle Price now sit at no. 2 and no. 3 in the FEI World Eventing Rankings just announced this morning.

Jonelle was rapt to be a slot in front of Tim but true to form, is looking forward to the challenge of pushing further up the rankings.

“I am delighted we are numbers two and three and finally get on the better side of my husband who has been leading the charge for some time now,” says Jonelle. “The world rankings don’t account for that much but it is a nice acknowledgement of consistency at the very highest level and at the 5* level and that is what we do it for. I am looking forward to continuing this year and who knows, maybe we can go one better!”

Tim was “super happy” for his wife Jonelle. “Good on her, if I am to be beaten by anyone then she is a pretty good option,” he said. “She deserves every bit of that – to have kids and come back and be so consistent at the top level is very impressive. The next step is for us both to get Oliver Townend (world no. 1) slip around behind us.”

He too is looking forward to the year ahead. “All the horses feel great … and what we do now is preparation for the season and success ahead.”

The couple have a huge season ahead covering off all the Northern Hemisphere 5* competitions. “We are hoping we can capitalise on all those opportunities and have a smoking hot year.”

Oliver Townend (GBR) remains at no. 1 on 585 points, with Jonelle on 520 and Tim on 485.
COVID’s interruption of events last year saw the FEI tweak how the rankings were decided but have now returned to the normal 12-month rolling cycle as of January 1, 2022, meaning this ranking takes into account results from February 1, 2021 through to January 31, 2022.

These rankings are the first ‘normal 12-month rolling cycle’ ranking calculation since the introduction of the Policy for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 on the rankings.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL RANKINGS LIST

By Diana Dobson
February 8, 2022