Saudi Team Leads Olympic Jumping
By Staff Report August 5, 2012
Saudi rider Abdullah Sharbatly got eliminated, but his team is in first place. (Photo courtesy of NBC)
A strong performance by Saudi Arabia and a resurgent team USA were the big news out of day two of Olympic Show Jumping, the highlight of which was a second clear round from Rich Fellers and Flexible. Saturday’s contest was the first of three rounds with scores that will count toward team medals.
After round one of team competition the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) led on a single time penalty, followed by a four-way tie for second with Britain, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands. Canada sits fifth, with the U.S. and Brazil tied for sixth.
Following an uneven start at Sunday’s qualifier that saw the elimination of rider Beezie Madden the U.S. managed to get back in the game. Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo delivered a strong round; they dropped one rail, at the first part of the double combination, and her horse looked confident and forward, which bodes well for Monday’s test. McLain Ward and Antares followed Saturday’s clear round with a four penalties assessed for a foot in the water at the Liverpool.
The youngest rider on the team, Reed Kessler, had two rails down with Cylana, which wasn’t too bad on a day that saw an abundance of 8-fault rides and relatively few clean ones: 12 in 62 starts and one disqualification. Kessler’s 47th place ranking at the end of Round 2 took her out of contention for an individual medal (only the top 45 advance). That means only Fellers and Ward remain eligible for individual honors (since Madden’s Round 1 elimination took her out of the running, too).
Canadian rider Tiffany Foster was disqualified hours before the event, when her horse Victor reportedly exhibited “leg sensitivity.” Canada will still be eligible for team competition but loses its drop score.
Rich Fellers and Flexible had their second clear round of this Olympics. (Photo courtesy of NBC)
A light drizzle doused the crowd as events got underway before a crowd of about 23,000 that filled the Greenwich Park arena grandstand to capacity. Although Ward rode early, the weather cleared in time for his three U.S. teammates, who went during the second half of the event.
Finishing Sunday with a team score of only a single time penalty, the Saudi performance was nothing short of amazing. A clear round by Prince Abdullah on Davos and Alvaro Affonso de Miranda Neto on Rahmannshof’s Bogeno anchored the effort, and Kamal Bahamdan (Nobless des Tess) and Ramzy al Duhami (Bayard van de Villa There) weren’t far off that mark, with two individual time faults each.
Saudi teammate Abdullah Sharbatly got eliminated for his 10-fault ride. In all, 17 riders were removed from the mix, including surprises like Ireland’s Bill Twomey and Canada’s Jill Henselwood.
Bob Ellis’s course of 13 jumping elements upped the ante substantially over yesterday’s test. Two three-part combinations and a massive triple bar oxer (that spanned seven feet) were among the challenges. Rails were scattered pretty evenly over the track, and the late in course postal-themed vertical proved surprisingly difficult, with its choice of six- or seven strides. The time allowed of 88 seconds was crisp.
Nick Skelton (GBR) and Big Star; Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS) and Itot du Chateau; Alberto Michan (MEX) and Rosalia la Silla; Ben Mahr (GBR) and TrippleX. Eric Lamaze (CAN) and Derly Chin de Muze (pictured) had just one time fault.
For individual results from day two of show jumping, the Second Qualifier, click here.
The team results are embedded below. To access a list that will allow you to see the scores of the individual riders per team, click here and then click on the + sign to the right of each team.
Short URL: https://theequestriannews.com/?p=12024