6.3 penalty points spelt the difference between gold and bronze team medals for Australia today and the pressure was on Chris Burton as the last rider into the show jumping arena
A clear show jumping round from Chris and Santano II would have secured the gold team medal but it was always going to be a big ask of his young horse at his first major championship
Two rails down at fences 8A and 11A relegated Australia to bronze but, hey, a bronze Olympic medal is not so bad!
“He’s a young, green horse and he showed his greenness today but I can’t be too disappointed with him as he has gone far and above what was expected of him” said Chris
Chris Burton and Santano II secure bronze
The day started badly for Australia with Stuart Tinney and Pluto Mio incurring 17 penalties (four rails and one time penalty) with Pluto not being wholly focussed in the early part of the course
“I wish I had ridden the first half of the round the way I rode the second half” said Stuart “He wasn’t waiting enough in the first half and had a few down in that bit but it got better as it went along”
Sam Griffiths and Paulank Brockagh redeemed the score slightly for Australia with a lovely clear round that left Sam praising his horse
“To go clear in an Olympic stadium in such a pressure situation is a great thrill” said Sam “The team competition is so tight I knew that I had to go clear but to be honest, I think that I’m sitting on what I think is one of the best horses in the world so I just let her go and she did the rest for me!”
Never underestimate the German team!
As Australia, in the gold medal winning position overnight, slid into third place, France and Germany, starting the day in third and fourth places, moved up the leader board with some impressive jumping. All four German riders jumped double clears to stay on their cross country score of 172.80 and claim the team silver medal while the young French team showed that their form at the European Championships was not a fluke by taking the Olympic team gold here
Karim Laghouag gave the French team a great start, clear with just one time fault, and he was joined by his compatriot Thibaut Vallett who jumped a classy double clear round on Qing Du Briot. Mathieu Lemoine had the French fans madly doing their maths as two rails fell but Astier Nicolas also produced a clear round with just Mark Todd and Chris Burton left to go
The crowd groaned as the very popular Mark Todd dropped four poles which, when combined with eight faults by Jonelle Price and a clear round from Clarke Johnstone, moved New Zealand out of medal contention on a total of 178.80. Australia retained bronze with a total of 175.30, Germany silver on 172.80 and France the Olympic eventing team champions on 169
Astier Nicolas jumps clear for the Olympic champions France
The top 25 riders now re-group to re-enter the arena this afternoon and jump for the Individual medals with the top six riders currently;
- Michael Jung 40.90
- Astier Nicolas 42.00
- Christopher Burton 45.60
- Phillip Dutton 47.10
- Clarke Johnstone 47.80
- Sam Griffiths 53.10
Stay tuned ..................
