Sometimes I have the luck of the Irish. We have had fantastic seats during the events at Greenwich so far but today we were plonked down in the middle of the Athlete’s seating (they are usually known as riders to you and me). Heaven. The other person who had this luck today was the Irishman himself, Cian O' Connor (above). Cian was reserve for the Irish team but was called up when Denis Lynch was dropped from the Irish nominations after Aachen and then today was included in the Final as first reserve when Rolf-Goran Bengtsson's horse Cassall was withdrawn. He then made the best of his luck by taking the bronze medal.
I’ve been a bit spoilt in the past having been to the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez on an owner’s pass and 2006 WEG in Aachen on a sponsor’s pass so it was nice to be back amongst the action today!
And what a day – I won’t go into the details as our official reporter Kathy Carter has already done a great job of summarising the day. To read these, CLICK HERE. My only question about today is, do all men in Switzerland look like Roger Federer (I’m not complaining)
For me it’s hard to believe that this Olympic adventure is nearly at an end. When you first arrive at this sort of event, it takes a few days to familiarise yourself with the daily journey to the venue, where to buy the shopping and intricacies of the accommodation. I’m certainly feeling fitter after walking up and down three flights of steps several times a day as our bedroom was on the top floor of the large Edwardian house we are staying in. I’ve also become quite adept at nipping through crowds when I’m running late for the start of an event.
I’ve really enjoyed going to and from the venue on the local double decker bus (some of the Australians we’re travelling with thought these were only for tourists and were delighted to find that they would be travelling on one every day) and getting a feel for the area. I now know Greenwich well and love it. I also love watching all the visitors to the venue in their multicolour, often nationalistic clothes, pouring out at the end of sessions and listening to all the languages.
Last, but not least, I love watching the riders, horses, their grooms, owners and supporters. I’m well aware of what it takes to compete at this level and the incredible talent of the horse and rider partnership is only the start of it. I love watching the grooms waiting with the sugar for their horses as they come out of the arena regardless of the result because they love them unconditionally. I love watching the trainers watching anxiously from the box overlooking the arena and the owners who stand passively by but suddenly erupt from a joy they can’t contain when all goes well.
Well, we still have one last competition tomorrow and the Kur usually ends the event on a high note so stand by for another big day; I'm really looking forward to seeing Charlotte Dujardin's British themed freestyle.
In the meantime let's farewell the show jumping with a video of Edwina and Itot's first round today
Video courtesy Edwina Tops-Alexander
