The reigning World Champion, Dermott Lennon of Ireland, did not compete due to an injury to his horse, Liscalgot. Other notable absences included Marcus Ehning (also due to equine injury) and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (positive doping test), both of Germany. Despite those absences, Germany still had a strong team (sweeping the podium at the European championships). Rodrigo Pessoa was among the favorites, as he had been in 2000 before refusals derailed his final round ride in Sydney. Greece made its debut in the event. France competed for the 20th time, most of any nation. Competition format The competition used the five-round format introduced in 1992, with three rounds in the qualifying round and two rounds in the final. For the qualifying round, each pair competed in three rounds. The total score across all three rounds counted for advancement to the individual final; the second and third rounds counted towards the team score. The individual competition allowed 45 pairs to advance to the final, though only three pairs per nation were allowed. Scores did not carry over to the final. In the final, there were two rounds. All of the finalists competed in the first, but only the top 20 pairs competed again in the second round. The combined score for the two rounds was the result for those pairs. A jump-off would be used if necessary to break ties for medal positions; other ties would not be broken. Schedule All times are Greece Standard Time (UTC+2) Results Qualifying round Round 1 10 of the 77 pairs had flawless rides in the first qualifying round. The two riders who were eliminated during the round automatically received a score 20 points higher than the highest other score and continued to compete in the second round. Round 2 The second qualifying round was also the first team round. Only one pair continued to progress without any penalties, though 27 had 10 or fewer. Round 3 The third individual qualifier was also the second team round. All athletes competed individually regardless of their team's qualification. 45 pairs advanced to the final round. Only three pairs from any single NOC could advance. This meant that all pairs through 51st place were qualified, as that was the lowest place that would allow for no less than 45 pairs to advance after teams that had four qualified pairs selected three of them. Since there was a tie for