- Ben Asselin and Lolita took the junior individual gold medal during the last day of competition at the 2010 North American Junior and Young Rider Championships.
- The duo jumped clean through the final rounds of competition and ended up as the only pair to finish with zero faults. “It still feels like a dream,” Asselin said of his five clear rounds over the course of the week. “It’s quite surreal. When everyone is cheering you on it’s a great feeling.”
- Meg O’Mara and Sinatra IV dropped only one rail throughout the individual competition to take the silver medal home to Rumson, N.J. Bronze went to Jocelyn Neff and Gaja 20 with a total score of 8 faults.
- Asselin, 16, from Calgary Alb., had to jump clear in his final round to avoid a jump-off. “Going into the final round, Meg and Jocelyn put a lot of pressure on me by jumping clear,” Asselin said. “My dad told me to focus and maintain that focus going through the course.”
- Asselin is coached by his father Jonathan Asselin, the Chef d’Equipe for the NAJC Canada-Alberta team. “Having my dad as a trainer is really special,” Asselin said. “It’s nice for me to share that with him.”
- The first trip of the final round was challenging to riders and saw multiple faults at the open water. “The most challenging thing was how technical the lines were,” O’Mara, 17, said. “The lines to and from the water was my hardest part.”
- This was the first FEI event for O’Mara and Sinatra IV, who teamed up this January. “He tries really hard,” she said. “After the first rail I was really hard on myself, and I knew I had to go clean to medal.”
- Jocelyn Neff and Gaja 20 came into the final round in fourth place and had to stay clear through the last two rounds for a medal.
- “I don’t think he has ever pulled a rail himself,” Neff, 17, Newport Beach, Calif., “It has always been my mistake, and I said I can’t do this to him.”
- Frances Land and Merlin had a total of 12 faults to end in fourth.
