At the 2003 Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo, Brazil’s show jumping team took home the bronze medal. But when the Games came to Rio de Janeiro this year, there was no way the Brazilians would let anyone else get the top prize in their own backyard. When the national sports minister hung the gold medals around the Brazilian riders’ necks after winning the show jumping team competition today, July 27th, the medal-hungry crowd nearly spilled into the arena in celebration.
The Canadians gave the hometown team a run for their money, taking the silver medal back north, and the U.S. moved up one spot to take bronze.
Today’s two-round Nations’ Cup class counted 50 percent towards the team medal, along with yesterday’s speed class.
Team Canada finished up yesterday with a narrow lead, after Jill Henselwood posted the high score of the day aboard Special Ed. But Canada’s advantage slipped away as a determined Brazilian squad lay down clear round after clear round all day long. The U.S. team rallied, pulling ahead of third-ranked Mexico in the first round and holding on to the position to grab the last medal.
Lauren Hough and Casadora repeated their graceful, controlled ride from yesterday, easily negotiating Guilherme Jorge’s formidable course. The pair came in a little tight to the in-and-out and caught the back rail of the second fence. One more time fault brought her total up to five.
Cara Raether entered the ring knowing that the United States was aching for a clean round to lift the team into medal contention. The pressure was on for the 28-year-old rider to perform in her very first Nations’ Cup appearance. But Raether kept her cool, tackling the course head-on and supporting Ublesco through a couple tight distances to post the first clear round of the morning.
Next up were Chapot and Little Big Man. The horse’s enthusiasm and speed gave no hint of his grave condition just two days earlier when he suffered a displaced colon. But a big gallop to clear the four-meter wide water left Little Big Man’s stride a touch too long for the following vertical, and the pair caught a rail to finish with four faults.
By the time veteran Todd Minikus made it to the ring, the United States had snuck up to third place but the top two teams were not giving the jump crew an awful lot of work. Yesterday’s winner, Canada’s Henselwood, had put in a textbook perfect trip with Special Ed. Brazilians Cesar Almeida with Singular Joter II and rising star Pedro Veniss on Un Blanc de Blancs both left the fences up, much to the delight of the emotional fans. But a clear round by Minikus and Pavarotti could open the door to knock Canada out of position.
Things started out well for Minikus, but when Pavarotti took a stutter step just one stride before the formidable water, disaster struck. Minikus put forth a valiant effort, pushing his mount forward after the hiccup, but Pavarotti had lost impulsion, and when he jumped he landed in the middle of the water. The horse slipped and fell almost to his knees, sliding on his face for several feet. Minikus rolled over his shoulder and landed in the dirt, dashing the United States’ chances to get the gold.
“I’m not really sure what happened,” said Minikus. “He’s generally a very good water jumper. There was movement on the side, he kind of propped one stride, and I legged him. He took one stride, left and he stood on his head.”
Anchoring the Brazilian team was three-time World Cup winner Rodrigo Pessoa, who has achieved rock-star status even in mainstream Brazil. The hometown hero delivered a gorgeous double clean round aboard Rufus, and the roar that erupted from the ecstatic crowd practically shook the stadium.
Canada’s own living legend, Ian Millar, followed suit aboard In Style. The eight-time Olympic veteran made short work of the 1.5 meter course, giving Canada the clean round they needed to get within striking distance of Brazil.
So the United States entered the final round of the team competition securely in bronze medal position with 19.20 points, behind Brazil’s 5.67 and Canada’s 6.72, but ahead of fourth-placed Mexico who had 25.89.
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During the second round the pressure on the U.S. team to perform ratcheted up a notch as Minikus—and the team’s drop score—disappeared from the competition.
But the stress didn’t seem to faze the riders. Lauren Hough and Casadora put in another stylish round, leaving all the rails up and finishing well within the time to get the U.S. off to a great start.
Ublesco jumped better than ever for Raether, who gained four faults when an unlucky rail tipped out of the cups at the second half of an in-and-out.
Chapot banked four faults when her “Pony” set a foot down in the water obstacle. “We’ve never had water faults before,” said Chapot. “He must have barely touched it.”
The eight faults accrued by the U.S. team would be enough to keep them from taking over the lead, but the battle for gold was still on between Canada and Brazil.
But it was a rare opportunity for top Brazilian riders to compete in front of their fans, and they were not ready to lose to a North American team in their brand new stadium. Both Pedro Veniss on Un Blanc de Blanc and Cesar Almeida on Singular Joter II put in their second faultless rounds of the day, and Rodrigo Pessoa on Rufus and Bernardo Alves on Chupa Chup 2 finished up with four apiece.
Canada’s Eric Lamaze posted a clear round aboard Hickstead, but it wouldn’t be enough to grab the gold. Mac Cone posted a disappointing eight jumping faults with Melinda, and leader Jill Henselwood and Special Ed took down their first rail of the competition. Even Ian Millar and In Style dropped a pole, guaranteeing the silver medal for the Canadians.
But Team Canada was all smiles as the silver medals hung around their necks. They came to Rio anxious to qualify for the Olympics, and qualify they did. The top three finishing teams, besides the United States, which qualified at the 2006 World Equestrian Games, earned a coveted Olympic slot. So Brazil, Canada and Mexico will be packing their bags for Hong Kong in 2008.
“There were no major errors with our team today,” said Canadian team captain Millar. “This is a game in inches, and the Brazilians got a few inches ahead of us.”
Twenty-five riders will compete in the two-round individual final, which gets underway Sunday, July 29th at 9 a.m. local time. U.S. riders Hough, Chapot, and Raether are all qualified to compete, and the riders sit fifth, eighth and tenth respectively. Chapot is unsure about whether Little Big Man will be up to the task. The horse still hasn’t caught up on his rest after his medical ordeal three days ago.
“He’s a very, very tired horse,” said Chapot. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that horse go in and lie down and rest the entire time between rounds ever…We’re going to see how he is Sunday morning. If he’s too tired we won’t [compete].”
Despite Minikus’ unlucky weekened, the rest of the U.S. team insisted that he played an integral role in the team’s success. “Knowing that we had such a strong player on the team who was going to be our anchor rider took a lot of the pressure off,” said Hough. “Maybe his score didn’t count, but he’s certainly a player on this team. We’ve all been there.”
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Chef d’Equipe George Morris expressed his approval of the team’s effort. “I’m very happy to have some new couples here,” said Morris. “We could have done better, Laura’s horse had a stomachache and Todd’s horse got green. If everything went perfectly we could have won silver or gold, but I’m very happy with the bronze.”
links to pdf files with full results below
Final Team Results:
1. Brazil, 9.67
Bernardo Alves, Chupa Chup 2
Pedro Veniss, Un Blanc de Blanc
Cesar Almeida, Singular Joter II
Rodrigo Pessoa, Rufus
2. Canada 14.72
Mac Cone, Melinda
Jill Henselwood, Special Ed
Eric Lamaze, Hickstead
Ian Millar, In Style
3. United States 27.20
Lauren Hough, Casadora
Cara Raether, Ublesco
Laura Chapot, Little Big Man
Todd Minikus, Pavarotti
4. Mexico 34.89
Santiago Lambre, Curant
Simon Nizri, Cataro Ask
Eduardo Salas RMW Estina,
Jose Antonio Chedraui, Don Porfino
5. Argentina 64.25
Maximiliano Amaya, Church Road
Matias Albarracin, Gama Cocu
Martin Dopazo, el Capricho Coral
Ricardo Kierkegaard, Rey Z
6. Guatemala 87.98
Wylder Rodriguez, Pompidu
Augusto Diaz Duran, Rubina
Eduardo Castillo, Paesen
Juan Andres Rodriguezm Orestus VDL
7. Colombia, 99.59
Ricardo Villa, Calico Z
Maurico Ruiz,m Ratoucha
Carlos Hernando Ramrez, Amazonas
Individual standings:
1. BRA Pedro Veniss, Un Blancs de Blanc, 2.84
2. CAN Jill Henselwood, Special Ed, 4.00
3. CAN Ian Millar, In Style, 4.29
4. BRA Rodrigo Pessoa, Rufus, 5.74
5. USA Lauren Hough, Casadora, 6.29
6. CAN Eric Lamaze, Hickstead, 6.43
7. BRA Bernardo Alves, Chupa Chup, 2, 9.09
8. USA Laura Chapot, Little Big Man, 9.38
9. MEX Jose Antonion Chedraui, 9.85
10. USA Cara Raether, Ublesco, 11.53
11. MEX Santiago Lambre, Curant, 11.57
12. BRA Cesar Almeida, Singular Joter II, 11.66
13. VEN Pablo Barrios, Sun God, 19.03
14. ARG Matias Albarracin, Gama Cocu, 20.34
15. COL Carlos Hernando Ramirez, Amazonas,21.32
16. MEX Eduardo Salas, RMW Estina, 21.93
17. CHI Samuel Parot, Signature, 24.31
18. CAN Mac Cone, Melinda, 25.40
19. GUA Juian Andres Rodriguez, Orestus VDL, 27.78
20. GUA Eduardo Castillo Paesen, 28.30
21. ARG Ricardo Kierkegaard, Rey Z, 29.61
22. ARG Maximilian Amaya, Church Road, 31.27
23. PUR, Francis Tress Roig, Acertijo, 31.99
24. BER Patrick Nisbett, Antille 8, 33.79
25. ARG Martin Dopazo, El Capricho Coral, 34.80
26. GUA Wylder Rodriguex Pompidu, 34.80
27. PUR Mark Watring, Sapphire, 35.53
28. ECU Diego Vivero Viteri, Cantabrica, 36.11
29. COL Ricardo Villa, Calico Z, 37.10
30. BOL Hernan Aguirre Castillo, Trivitano Miraflores, 37.45
31. COL Mauricio Ruiz, Ratoucha, 41.17
32. VEN Leopoldo Paoli, Remonta Escaupil, 45.93
33. BER Jillian Terceira, Navantus, 68.49
(EL) CHI Carlos Milthaler, A.S. Lusitania
(EL) DOM Georgia Ieromazzo, Chassot
(EL) ESA Alfredo Hernandex, Takashi Van Bernenbr
(EL) GUA Augusto Diaz Duran, Rubina
(EL) MEX Simon Nizri, Catardo Ask
(EL) USA Todd Minikus, Pavarotti
(EL) VEN Gustavo Arroyo, Cachon
(EL) VEN Louisse Garcia, Philipp
(RT) ECU Ronald Zabala Goetschel, Wonderboy
After clicking the link below, please click on the “equestrian, July 27” box to get links to PDFs for full individual results after round one; individual results after round two, with faults; and final team results, with scores from all rounds.
http://www.rio2007.com.br/data/pages/8CA3C784139C20FF01139C2C41550F77.htm
