Team eventing silver for British riders
British horse riders fight off New Zealand and Sweden in equestrian team eventing to finish second behind Germany, securing a second silver medal for Team GB at London 2012.
Equestrian eventing comprises cross country, dressage and showjumping. On the final day of the competition, showjumping, Team GB was lying in silver medal position and stayed in that place throughout the day.
In showjumping the riders are given penalty points for not completing the course in the allotted time and for knocking fences down.
William Fox-Pitt, riding Lionheart, got Team GB off to a strong start with a score fo 53.3 – the best score in the early stage of the competition.
Fox-Pitt was followed by Nicola Wilson, riding Opposition Buzz, who flicked over her first fence, but continued solidly for the rest of her round, finishing with a respectable score of 55.7.
Zara Phillips, riding High Kingdom, was third and brought down her second fence, but still managed a score of 53.1. The score brought her down the individual rankings and meant Team GB was lying in second behind Germany.
With Sweden lying in third, the fourth rider, Mary King, took to the arena, but pulled off an impressive circuit, with no fences knocked down, to compete Team GB’s silver-medal hopes alive.
Michael Jung, the reigning world and European champion came out fourth for Germany, securing them the gold in the team eventing with one rider to spare.
This left a fight for silver with Britain just 0.2 of a point ahead of New Zealand in third, with Sweden lying in fourth.
Last to ride was Tina Cook with strong perforamces from Sweden and New Zealand keeping pressure on Team GB, and with just one time fault she secured the silver for Great Britain.
Team GB’s individual eventing hopes King and Cook failed to secure medals in their final later that day, with Jung taking gold.
Reliable medals
The eventing team has been a reliable source of medals for team GB over the years with team gold in Munich, silvers at Seoul, Sydney and Athens and a bronze in Beijing. There are five British riders at London 2012 competing on the horses Lionheart, Imperial Cavalier, High Kingdom, Miners Frolic and Opposition Buzz.
The results of the best three competitors will contribute towards the team’s final score as well as the individual competition in which more medals are up for grabs. The competition began with two days of dressage – a discipline often referred to as “horse ballet” – on Saturday morning. Monday afternoon’s cross-country is followed by the jumping finale on Tuesday.
Tina Cook
Tina Cook has been eventing full-time since she was sixteen. Her father was a jockey and her mother an international international show jumper. This is her second Olympic appearance after securing two bronzes in Beijing four years ago. The 43-year-old renews her medal winning partnership with her Beijing horse Miners Frolic for London 2012.
Mary King
At 51, Mary King is one of the veterans of Team GB and has competed in six Olympic Games. She will be hoping to add to her silver in Athens and bronze in Beijing in both the team and individual competitions. Riding a new horse Imperial Cavalier – her fifth in her Olympic career – she is the most experienced member of the British Olympic eventing team.
Nicola Wilson
Nicola Wilson was called into the British team as a replacement for Piggy French, who was forced to withdraw at the start of July. She was part of the team that won gold at the 2010 World Equestrian Games, European gold in 2009 and bronze in 2011. The Darlington-born Olympic debutant rides Opposition Buzz.
William Fox-Pitt
William Fox-Pitt has already won two team medals at Olympic Games. In his fourth games he teamed up with the horse Lionheart. In 2004 he was a favourite for gold in the individual competition, but pulled out after the Cross Country when his horse Tamarillo was injured. The 46-year-old won a team silver in Athens and bronze in Beijing.
Zara Phillips
The youngest member of the equestrian team is also the most high profile, with the Queen as her Grandmother and World Cup winning rugby player Mike Tindall as a husband. Her parents rode in the Olympic Games for Great Britain, with her father Mark Phillips winning a team gold medallist at Munich in 1972. Riding on High Kingdom in London, she suffered Olympic disappointment prior to Beijing having had to withdraw from the team after her previous horse Toytown sustained an injury.
Team GB today
In judo British medal hopeful Euan Burton was knocked out in the qualifying rounds against Canadian Antoine Valois-Fortier.
Fencers Husayn Rosowsky and Richard Kruse are oyut of the fencing. Roswowsky bowed out in the first round of the fencing and needed treatment to a thigh injury after being beaten by Tunisian Mohamed Samand.Kruse lost to Russian Artur Akhmatkhuzin.
Both of Team GB’s skeet shooters, Richard Bricknell and Rory Wardlow, did not make it to the men’s final after finishing twelfth and sixteenth in qualifying.
Weightlifter Gareth Evans has finished eight in group B of the men’s 69kg class. He achieved a total score of 288 kgs from a snatch lift of 130kg and a clean and jerk lift of 158 kg.
