Australian born US citizen Boyd Martin has become the World Number One eventing rider on the FEI Rankings for the first time in his career.
Boyd has climbed from 10th place in just one month with a tally of 543 points after a series of solid performances in home soil over recent weeks in Aiken, Maryland and the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L (USA), where he finished in second, sixth, and seventh positions.
He is only the third athlete since 2008 to have three horses in the top ten in a CCI5*-L after Phillip Dutton (USA) in 2017 and Andrew Nicholson (NZL) in 2013.
Boyd is also the first USA athlete to reach the top of the Eventing world rankings in 21 years. Kim Severson was the last American at the top in 2004, while David O’Connor did it back in 2000.
Tom McEwen now occupies second place with 540 points, while fellow Briton Harry Meade has moved up one position to third, securing 537 points. Close behind is New Zealand’s Tim Price with 536 points, highlighting just how tightly contested the race for the top position is set to be in the coming months, with a minimal 7-point difference between Martin and Price
Team Olympic silver medallist Rosalind Canter (GBR) has slipped to fifth place with 487 points, while reigning Individual Olympic champion Michael Jung (GER) has surged six spots to sixth with 421 points after winning the CCI5*-L in Lexington.
Britain’s Laura Collett and Tom Jackson have each dropped one position, now sitting seventh (380 points) and eighth (378 points), respectively, while Switzerland’s Felix Vogg and Belgium’s Lara De Liedekerke-Meier round out the top 10 at 374 and 360 points respectively.
Chris Burton remains the highest placed Australian rider in 40th place with Shane Rose climbing the ranks again from 50th to 45th and Sam Jeffree also in the top 50 at 48th place.
