Team gold for the USA after a nail-biting jump-off against Canada – both teams on 20 faults following two challenging rounds. Silver for the Canadians was even more remarkable given the fact that they were competing with only three riders this evening, following the withdrawal of Mac Cone when Olé showed signs of being sore today. It was a Mount Everest effort from Canada, and sadly they just failed to scale the summit, but there was still a great deal of rejoicing as their last Olympic showjumping medal came in 1968, four years before Ian Millar’s first appearance in Munich 1972.
But even more remarkable was a bronze medal going to Norway – and the team of Stein Endresen/Le Beau, Morten Djupvik/Casino, Geir Gulliksen/Cattani, and Jony André Hansen/Camiro. Commenting on his pathfinding round and his 12-fault score, Endresen said; “He [Le Beau] was a little tired and stumbled. He is not bad, but not good enough. He needs a good rest. I hope to get into the individual final.”
For any superstitious riders, this final course in the Olympic team competition may have appeared somewhat daunting with 13 fences! Three double combinations – 6A/B (a good one stride oxer/vertical, but with the added dimension of liverpools) and 8A/B (verticals standing at 1m55 and 1m58 ) bordering a very strategically placed water jump (4m10), once again on a curving line, at fence 7!!! The third double, oxers once again (1m50×1m60 and 1m50×1m70), just one fence from home, and a straight run to 13 – adjacent to the in gate.
Rodrigo Pessoa riding Rufus – Individuals also had to complete the two rounds of the team competition in order to qualify for Thursday's final
HIGH-RES COPIES OF ALL OLYMPIC PHOTOS BY PETER LLEWELLYN AVAILABLE FROM WWW.HORSESOURCEPHOTOS.COM
Distances were fair, perhaps more so than yesterday evening, although the distance following the triple bar at fence 2 was an extremely long five strides – but taking a check and fitting six was likely to diminish the impulsion needed for the imposing fence 3 oxer (1m50×1m60). As it happened, the course rode well and faults occurred throughout.
Once again, no one could deny the Olympic status of this course, beautifully constructed to represent the rich architectural and cultural heritage of Hong Kong/China, and also to heighten the atmosphere of this medal-deciding round. Scores are also accumulating in order to identify the top 35 riders who will progress to Thursday’s individual final – the conclusion of the 2008 Olympic Games equestrian events. (Tomorrow evening hosts the individual Grand Prix Freestyle dressage final, and Wednesday is a second rest day for the showjumping horses and also the final veterinary examination).
There were 15 individual riders making up the total of 50 – including those members of the top 9 teams (as two tied with equal faults for eighth place after the first round), and a number of disappointments.
For Mexico, Alberto Michan, Federico Fernandez and Antonio Chedraui finished with 24, 8 and 8 faults respectively, victims of the water jump among other fences, and Michan was especially upset with his round which ruled him out of the individual final. According to Chedraui, “It was very tough tonight, and for me the line to the water jump was very difficult because my horse [Don Porfirio] is not a big water jumper. I knew there was a risk so I tried my best, but not overdoing it, so I kept to my plan and did the six strides after the water and everything came out fine. I made a mistake after the wall coming into the combination because my horse moved a little bit forward, softer than I expected, but he jumped really good. He looks good and I just hope we can qualify for the final.” Both Chedraui and Fernandez finished inside the top 35 and will compete on Thursday evening.
Reigning Olympic gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa, will be a strong defender of his title, and had the luxury of producing a relaxed round, with several fences in hand in order to make the individual final: “I would rather have the four faults today than on Thursday. The horse jumped really great and I don’t feel at all that I’m in the red, so I’ll use the next two days for him to recuperate well and prepare for Thursday. Then we start from zero. I relaxed a little coming to the last with no pressure and do a nice round without the obligation of going clear, so it was nice to use this as a kind of training round. It was a different course, everything came quite fast and you had to be vigilant. The line to the water was difficult, and then it was nice to test your brakes after the water with the double of verticals, and with one or two bigger oxers we are starting to feel the Olympic size. We’re getting there.”
Pessoa will be joined in the top 35 by Bernardo Alves who incurred eight faults this evening: “I could be more focused in the ring because we didn’t have a team, so there was no pressure for a clear round,” while Camila Benedicto finished 38th.
There were also no qualifying problems for reigning World Champion Jos Lansink/Cumano, and Ireland’s sole individual, Denis Lynch. Lansink said, “My horse is getting better and better. So far things are working very well. It was a very difficult track, very technical and the fences are getting bigger.” Likewise, Lynch was happy with his six-fault round (4+2 time): “You cannot ride with pressure every day. I take things step by step, be positive and enjoy it. Getting to the final was my goal.”
Drawn first for the teams contesting the Olympic medals, Germany’s below par performances continued, with Marco Kutscher dropping out of individual contention with Cornet Obolensky who posted an extremely unsettled 19-fault round, including a moment when he stopped dead and reared in front of the first element of the double combination at 8A, immediately following the water. According to Kutscher, “The water problem never happened before the first round, and I can’t explain it.”
Meanwhile, Christian Ahlmann, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Ludger Beerbaum all qualify for the individual final, and the team improved their position from equal eighth to fifth place when the door was opened by other teams.
Conversely, Sweden, lying third after the first round, dropped to eighth, and Great Britain from fifth to seventh. In fact, Britain’s day began with controversy surrounding John Whitaker’s non-appearance in the first team round, due to stiffness without any apparent origin in Peppermill’s back! The British team met with the Ground Jury this morning, and they ruled in favour of allowing Whitaker to compete in the second round. However, after the other teams were informed of the Ground Jury’s decision, seven of them lodged a protest. Their protest was considered, but the Ground Jury’s earlier decision was upheld. In accordance with the rules, and following due process, the seven teams formally launched an appeal to the Appeal Committee, who decided that Whitaker would not be reinstated, according to Article 264.4 Rules for Jumping Events (Nations’ Cup). For the British team, it was a bitter pill to swallow, and Tim Stockdale vented his anger by saying; “Medals are at stake. John is so good people fear him. Some people saw this as an opportunity to get John out of the competition. I don’t think it is good sportsmanship.”
Nick Skelton added his own feelings; “The rule is stupid and pathetic. We are not cheating. It is ridiculous. Germany was the only country that didn’t object. We would not want to win the medal on a technicality anyway.” The remaining three members of the British team, Skelton, Stockdale and young Ben Maher, have all qualified for the individual final, with the latter showing the best form with Rolette, and finishing sixth after the second team round with just five faults overall. “She is one of the best horses in the world, in my opinion. I’ve had her for ayear, and I’m so lucky. I always have high expectations and can’t wait for Thursday. I know my horse improves every day.”
As the USA and Canada continued to demonstrate their strength, the battle for bronze was heating up between Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands, although the latter soon fell by the wayside. Having completed the first round in equal first place alongside the USA, Switzerland’s campaign started badly with a 23-fault round from Christina Liebherr/No Mercy, which gave them a deficit from which they were unable to recover, and they finally finished just outside the medals in fourth place.
Norway steadily improved, and a round clear of jumping penalties, but with just one time fault, from anchorman Tony André Hansen – the baby of the group – clinched the bronze medal.
Canada soon shrugged off their disappointment in losing Mac Cone, and performed splendidly to finish with 20 faults. Anchor rider for the United States, Beezie Madden needed a clear round with Authentic for an outright win, but a foot in the water meant a jump-off against their long-time adversaries north of the border.
Riding first in the jump-off, McLain Ward/Sapphire posted a clear round in a fast time for the USA against four faults for Jill Henselwood/Special Ed. Laura Kraut/Cedric maintained the clean slate, and Eric Lamaze scored a stylishly fast clear round with the hugely talented Hickstead. With Canada being down a man, Will Simpson only had to jump clear to clinch team gold for the US – and Carlsson vom Dach obliged; “He is a very smart horse and made a very good effort, especially going through the double. He was brilliant.”
Speaking on behalf of the Norwegian team, Geir Gulliksen said; “We really didn’t believe this could happen, so it’s more than a dream – it’s like winning gold.”
Nine-time Olympian Ian Millar admitted that, “A lot of good things have happened to me, but the Olympics have ever quite gone my way. It’s remarkable and I can’t say enough about our great team, the Chef d’Equipe, our fine horses, and all the people in Canada who were behind us.” This Olympic Games has been especially bittersweet for Millar, who in March this year lost Lyn, his wife of 39 years, following a long battle with cancer.
Meanwhile, long-time US Chef d’Equipe George Morris was candid about not knowing what the future will bring in terms of continuing with his team. But, when the team was asked how they felt after winning by default in Athens (when the US were awarded team gold following a doping infraction by Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum), McLain Ward answered by saying, “We’ve lived with that for four years, and it’s time people stopped whining about it. This win is an exclamation point for the United States and has been a fantastic result for North America in general. In fact, probably the best day for North American in the history of our sport.”
Full results:
Showjumping team round 2:
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/EQ/C73SB/EQX402102.shtml#EQX402102
Showjumping team jump-off:
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/EQ/C73SB/EQX402103.shtml#EQX402103
Showjumping individual third qualifier:
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/EQ/C73SE/EQX002202.shtml#EQX002202
