Rodrigo Pessoa riding Rufus
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There is no doubt that course designers Leopoldo Palacios and Steve Stephens built a “doozy” of a course for the first round of the showjumping team competition – “doozy” meaning “with plenty of wow factor” in Canadian!
From the first to the last, both size and technicality featured equally – with barely a moment to breathe, so definitely requiring the utmost care and accurate approaches. In particular, fences three (1m57), four and five (1m60) demand high-precision riding, with two very skinny verticals at right angles to the water (4m20), and with extremely light top rails. Thereafter 6A/B, a triple bar (1m55×1m90) to oxer (1m50×1m55) combination is a very tight two strides, while 11A/B/C, vertical (1m55), oxer (1m50×1m60), vertical (1m55) with one stride both going in and coming out immediately precedes a short five-stride related distance to an oxer at 12 (1m55×1m80). Finally, the last fence is a vertical (1m60) over a Liverpool – not for the fainthearted!
The order of go for this first round of the team competition which concludes tomorrow, saw all the individual riders as well as teams ranked 9th to 16th (New Zealand, China, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Sweden, and Mexico) after Friday’s qualifying round jump first, followed by the teams currently ranked 1st to 8th (Australia, Netherlands, Great Britain, Norway, Switzerland, Brazil, Canada, and the USA) in reverse order.
Although there were only three clear rounds, from McLain Ward/Sapphire (USA), Eric Lamaze/Hickstead (Canada) and Rodrigo Pessoa/Rufus (Brazil), the course jumped reasonably well, and everyone agreed that it was a fair Olympic test. Sadly, there were several eliminations, with Jamal Rahimov from Azerbaijan suffering a nasty fall at the penultimate fence on the course (12). Although his horse, the Selle Français stallion Ionesco de Brekka was quickly on his feet, the 20-year-old Rahimov remained on the ground for many minutes, and was taken to hospital as a precaution, although he was later discharged and returned to the Olympic village.
The same fence also upended Brazil’s Pedro Veniss when Un Blanc de Blancs dropped his feet between the rails of the wide oxer, and although horse and rider were thankfully uninjured, it dropped Brazil out of the medal race, and the top eight teams (10th) that will return tomorrow evening, after Bernardo Alves/Chupa Chup and Camila Benedicto/Bonito Z scored 12 and 13 faults apiece.
Rodrigo Pessoa: “The course was good. We didn’t expect anything different today difficultywise. It’s very difficult to ride a water on a curve and it’s a long time since I’ve seen that because it’s difficult to judge where you are and how much you have to push before you get to water. That was a slick trick they pulled on everybody today. But the rest was classical and straightforward. The big surprise has been the Germans, but everything is still open. Pedro’s fall had a big impact because we could have been in second place, but that’s the game, that’s the way it goes. He [Rufus] feels really good, really confident and after tomorrow’s class he has two days to rest, then we start all over again. I’m realistic, and with the two big rounds on the last day, things can go well, but they can also go not so well. I’m confident because the horse is proving to be a top-notch horse that can do it.”
In fact, for the team competition, only two rails separate the top nine teams (two sharing eighth place), with Switzerland and the United States currently sharing equal first place with 12 faults. Sweden stand alone with 13, followed by Canada and Great Britain, each with 16.
Switzerland’s Christina Libeherr said, “The poles were very light and easy to knock down. You have to concentrate on taking every corner.”
Talking about his unlucky four faults at the fence 12 oxer, nine-time Olympian Ian Millar (Canada) said; “He was jumping beautifully, but then he jumped the front rail and was coming down towards the back rail. He never did that at any other oxer, and why he did it there … I’d have to look at a video and see what happened, whether he was anticipating a left turn. These oxers are so square, sometimes a horse has a problem getting his eye on that back rail. They need a sharp eye to see all this stuff and spot every detail. But you need some luck … look at the mighty Germans! You wouldn’t expect then to be where they are.” Remarking on Mac Cone and Jill Henselwood’s 12- and 16- fault rounds, Millar added; “Mac and Jill are very hardcore riders and they won’t let this happen again. It’s not that either one of them rode badly, it’s just how it is. I promise you we’ll clean it up tomorrow night, you have my word on that.”
Somewhat surprising is Norway and the Netherlands who share sixth place with 17 faults, the latter fielding their second team after two riders – Jeroen Dubbeldam and Albert Zoer – suffered broken legs! Dutch team rider, Vincent Voorn, following in his father’s footsteps as an Olympian, on this occasion provided the discard score (16 faults) with Alpapilloon-Armanie, and admitted things didn’t go as expected. “No. Too many stupid mistakes. I didn’t relax enough on the course. I’m a little bit disappointed.”
Germany’s uncharacteristically bad form continued, beginning with an eight-fault round from Christian Ahlmann and Cöster (8), then 13 faults from Marco Kutscher and Cornet Obolensky which was the discard score. A further four and eight faults respectively from Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum/Shutterfly and Ludger Beerbaum/All Inclusive left then with 20 faults, tied for eighth place alongside Australia. Michaels-Beerbaum said, “There was some pressure, but I’m quite happy. Shutterfly jumped very well and I rode very well, but maybe a bit too fast into the triple combination. Now it’s all about not giving up and keep on fighting.” Meanwhile, her brother-in-law admitted: “You may be favourite but that does not necessarily mean you will win. We were everything else but great! We need to get accustomed to the idea that the medal [gold] is gone. I have seen long faces, but also some very unexpected broad smiles. This is just fate.”
Also missing the cut for the team competition, just behind Brazil … Mexico who finished with 26 to Brazil’s 25 faults. So near, yet so far! Alberto Michan: “The course was very different to what we jumped the first day. More technical and much higher obstacles, but I think it was okay because Leopoldo [Palacios] and Steve Stephens had to build a course the first day that didn’t break the horses, so it was a nice welcome, with a lot of clears and a lot of four faults, but today it’s tough. For sure it’s a very rideable course and I don’t think it’s crazy, but now the riders have to jump well. It’s challenging and you must focus from fence one to fence 13. The triple combination going towards the gate made the horses run on a little bit, then it was a short five strides to fence 12, so you really had to pull back. It’s actually a nice course to have faults because it doesn’t spook the horses at all.”
Michan’s team mate, Enrique Gonzalez agreed; “It’s definitely an Olympic course, very technical, difficult and you need to have a lot of control. My mare is not the best water jumper, and the line to the water is very complicated, and the planks (fence 7) after the first combinations is also giving a lot of trouble.”
According to Federico Fernandez, “I was very technical, but I think it was very fair for horses and riders, and you cannot expect less for an Olympic Games. The magic of the course is that it doesn’t favour any particular horse. Leopoldo and Steve Stephens have done a magnificent job.”
Now riding for Hong Kong, Samantha Lam (30) was a regular visitor to Hipico La Silla in Monterrey, Mexico during her younger days when she competed in the Intercontinental Juniors and Young Riders Championship. Born in Vancouver, Canada, to Chinese parents from Hong Kong, this Olympic appearance has been a dream come true, although she unfortunately twisted her back during a team training session prior to the first individual qualifier. Since then, she’s been treated with a combination of traditional eastern medicine and western knowledge that has enabled her to jump, although she concluded the two rounds with 29 faults. “I had a lot of pain in the warm-up, and landing every big fence was like someone stabbing me in the back. I tried to ignore it as much as possible, but I know my position was off, but that’s the way it goes. It’s a beautiful course and will sure separate the top riders from the rest and I’m just proud I got around the track without any disasters. It was definitely a learning experience and an amazing feeling to have the home crowd behind us. Even after a couple of rails, it was still a very proud moment.”
The second round of the team competition to determine the medals takes place tomorrow evening, with the final two individual rounds on Thursday.
Full results: Team first round
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/EQ/C73SA/EQX402101.shtml#EQX402101
Individual second qualifier
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/EQ/C73SD/EQX002201.shtml#EQX002201
