This week, the O2 Arena in Prague is the beating heart of international showjumping. The GC Playoffs bring one of the sport’s most prestigious and high-stakes finals to the calendar. A total of €11.25 million will be distributed across some of the toughest team and individual competitions of the season. Both the GCL Super Cup and the LGCT Super Grand Prix will be decided in Prague, and the format leaves riders with little margin for error. Here is an overview of how the Playoffs weekend is structured.
GCL Super Cup: from quarterfinals to the ultimate team showdown
The team competition of the Playoffs consists of three stages. The top four teams from the 2025 GCL season receive a direct ticket to Friday’s semifinals. Teams ranked fifth through sixteenth must first battle through Thursday’s quarterfinal.
In this 1.60m class, three combinations per team jump one round against the clock. No drop score is allowed, meaning every penalty and every second on the clock contributes to the final ranking. The best eight teams advance to the semifinals, where they join the season’s top four.
Friday’s semifinals
The semifinals also run over a single 1.60m round, again with no drop score. The stakes rise sharply here: the prize fund totals €2 million. As in the quarterfinals, rankings are determined by penalties and cumulative time. Only six teams earn a place in Sunday’s Super Cup Final.
Saturday: LGCT Super Grand Prix
Saturday features the individual highlight of the weekend: the LGCT Super Grand Prix. Only riders who have won an LGCT Grand Prix during the season may participate, resulting in an exclusive field including Abdel Saïd, Harrie Smolders, Scott Brash, Emanuele Camilli, Jérôme Guery, Gilles Thomas, and Nicola and Thibault Philippaerts.
This competition consists of two rounds at 1.65m. The starting order for the first round is drawn, while the second round follows reverse order of penalties and time from round one. A €1.25 million prize purse awaits the competitors.
Sunday: the grand finale of the GCL Super Cup
The GCL Super Cup Final, offering €6.5 million in prize money, is contested over two 1.60m rounds. Once again, every score counts: there is no drop result, and every team combination influences the final outcome. The total of both rounds determines the final standings, and in the case of equal penalties, the combined time of the second round decides the ranking.
All competitions can be followed live via Longines Timing or GCTV.
