Scoring analysis of three world championship three-day events

Abstract

Summary The objective of this study was to analyze scoring factors in world championship three-day events relative to athletic performance and international event rules. Performance records were collected on-site for all 216 competitors at the 1988, 1990, and 1992 world championship three-day events. Scoring variables including finishing status, finishing quartile, rider gender, rider age, horse age, horse gender, nationality, order within nation, falls, rider weight, scores for each phase of competition, timing variables, and dressage judges' scores for specific movements were tabulated, and subjected to statistical analyses. The order in which a rider competed for a team was not significantly related to the finishing score quartile. The proportion of riders that finished the event was 72.7% across the 3 events and did not differ between events. There were 20% to 23% female riders, and the proportion of females differed between regional groupings of nations. Female riders were, on the average, 8.7 cm shorter than their male competitors, weighed an average of 9.3 kg less, and had a higher incidence of falls in cross-country jumping. Horse age and gender did not differ significantly according to finishing status. Day 2 Phase D Cross-country partial scores had the highest association with overall performance (correlation coefficients +0.67 to +0.97), while Day 1 Dressage scores (+0.38 to +0.43), Day 2 Phase B Steeplechase timing variables (+0.31 to +0.49) and Day 3 Stadium Jumping Total Penalties (+0.25 to +0.37) were moderately related to overall performance. There was no significant correlation between order of competitor and placing of finishers. Dressage judges' partial scores were only significantly related to scores in which they comprised a portion of the total. The relative percentages of Total Penalty Points were in a ratio of 5.9:8.3:1, which contrasts sharply with the relative emphases of 3:12:1 specified by the current rules.