The UAE knights will be vying for the top spot, along with 80 celebrated international endurance riders from 32 nations, at the Longines FEI Endurance World Championship 2021, opening tomorrow, May 22nd, in Pisa San Rossore, Italy.

The UAE team have the highest probability for success with a prestigious track record of achievements that goes down in history of endurance sport, on top of which comes the global accomplishment notched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, when he was crowned winner of the 2012 FEI World Endurance Championship for the Individual and Team categories Suffolk, UK.

Adding one more feather in the country’s sporting cap, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, scaled the summit to win the individual gold medal in the endurance event at the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France. H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE National Olympic Committee, was the youngest to seal the championship when he won the endurance individual gold at the 2002 WEG held in Jerez, Spain. Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook Al Maktoum also won the Open European Endurance Championship in the Czech Republic in 2013.

The Emirates Knights team consist of Sheikh Hamid bin Dalmook Al Maktoum, Abdullah Ghanem Al Marri, Salem Al Ketbi, Saeed Al Owaisi, and Mansour Al Farsi.

The line-up for the 160 km Longines FEI Endurance World Championship in Pisa, Italy has been confirmed, with competitors from 32 countries and five continents ready to challenge for the 2021 individual and team world titles on Saturday May 22. Amongst them are the 2016 World Champion, Spain’s Jaume Punti Dachs, and his wife Maria Alvarez Ponton who has taken individual gold twice during her successful career – first at Terengganu in Malaysia in 2008 and again in Kentucky, USA in 2010. Also vying for top spot this time out will be Alex Luque Moral from Spain and Bahrain’s Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa who respectively took silver and bronze at the 2016 World Championships in Samorin, Slovakia. A total of 13 nations will be chasing down the team title.

The event will be staged in Parco Naturale Migliarino San Rossore Massaciuccoli, one of the largest and most ancient nature parks in Tuscany.

The 2021 Longines FEI Endurance World Championships will get underway at the Racecourse at 07.00 on 22 May when a total of 81 competitors and their horses will set out on the 160 kilometre course. The statistics show a gender balance of 56% men and 44% women on the start list.