Simon Delestre Jumps to World No. 2 on Longines FEI Rankings

Simon

After a fantastic December of top results, France’s Simon Delestre has jumped two positions up the Longines FEI World Rankings to take over the position of World No. 2 rider.

Delestre overtakes Kent Farrington of the United States, who despite winning the IJRC Top Ten Final at CHI Geneve on December 10th, falls two positions to World No. 4, and French rider Peneleope Leprevost, who went from No. 3 to No. 6.

Now ranked the leading lady rider in both the United States and the world, Beezie Madden has moved up to World No. 4 (and USEF ranked No. 2).

That makes the news of the December rankings not about who is on top, since it’s no surprise the long-running Scott Brash still holds that World No. 1 position, but about Brash’s continuously slimming lead as riders such as Delestre close in on him. With 2803 points to Brash’s 2950, it’s the closest a rider has come to catching that No. 1 position in quite some time.

However, January will see the global calendar of CSI rated events pick back up to full speed, with the Winter Equestrian Festival getting underway in Wellington, Florida, where many top international riders are based. Combine that with a continued calendar of top-rated World Cup Qualifier grand prix competition in Europe, and it’s a sure bet that top-ranked riders on both sides of the Atlantic will produce results that could shake things up in a very big way come February.

Longines FEI Ranked World Top 50, as of 12/31/2015

Rank Previous Athlete NF Points
1 1 BRASH, Scott GBR 2950
2 4 DELESTRE, Simon FRA 2803
3 2 FARRINGTON, Kent USA 2800
4 5 MADDEN, Elizabeth USA 2656
5 7 WATHELET, Gregory BEL 2635
6 3 LEPREVOST, Penelope FRA 2621
7 6 ALLEN, Bertram IRL 2599
8 8 WARD, Mclain USA 2584
9 9 AHLMANN, Christian GER 2568
10 11 DEUSSER, Daniel GER 2400
11 10 BEERBAUM, Ludger GER 2373
12 12 BENGTSSON, Rolf-Göran SWE 2370
12 13 DINIZ, Luciana POR 2370
14 18 DELAVEAU, Patrice FRA 2318
15 14 STAUT, Kevin FRA 2308
16 15 VON ECKERMANN, Henrik SWE 2235
17 17 GUERDAT, Steve SUI 2198
18 16 KUTSCHER, Marco GER 2193
19 19 VAN DER VLEUTEN, Maikel NED 2156
20 20 SMOLDERS, Harrie NED 2120
21 21 KRAUT, Laura USA 2085
22 22 TOPS-ALEXANDER, Edwina AUS 2045
23 25 GAUDIANO, Emanuele ITA 2040
24 23 WHITAKER, John GBR 2025
25 35 DREHER, Hans-Dieter GER 2015
26 33 DUGUET, Romain SUI 1975
27 32 ALVAREZ MOYA, Sergio ESP 1953
28 24 AL THANI, Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid QAT 1946
29 27 MAHER, Ben GBR 1933
30 27 MODOLO ZANOTELLI, Marlon BRA 1928
31 31 SWAIL, Conor IRL 1903
32 29 SCHWIZER, Pius SUI 1900
33 36 BOST, Roger Yves FRA 1890
34 45 GUERY, Jérôme BEL 1885
35 38 MICHAELS-BEERBAUM, Meredith GER 1873
36 26 HOUGH, Lauren USA 1849
37 37 ALSHARBATLY, Abdullah KSA 1840
38 39 OUADDAR, Abdelkebir MAR 1837
39 48 LAMAZE, Eric CAN 1834
40 29 LYNCH, Denis IRL 1815
41 41 RODRIGUEZ, Andres VEN 1785
41 43 RENWICK, Laura GBR 1785
43 44 EHNING, Marcus GER 1772
44 56 PHILIPPAERTS, Olivier BEL 1768
45 42 DEVOS, Pieter BEL 1720
46 52 EPAILLARD, Julien FRA 1715
47 46 VRIELING, Jur NED 1710
47 57 WHITAKER, Michael GBR 1710
49 50 BUCCI, Piergiorgio ITA 1708
50 34 FUCHS, Martin SUI 1700
Back to blog