Eventing Team Gold and Individual Silver
| Eventing Team Gold and Individual Silver After a 16 year gap, the British Team have claimed gold at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in a nail-biting battle with Canada, the USA and New Zealand and William Fox-Pitt took Silver, his first ever World Championship individual medal. |  |
The pressure was on the top three placed British riders when Tina Cook with Miners Frolic had two fences down to add eight penalties to her score, already the discard, to finish on 68.30 in 29th place. After her round, Tina commented; "I am disappointed but he's just a bit stiff after yesterday. He simply did not jump like I know he can but he put so much effort into yesterday. I just hope my team mates can now do the business. I came here with high hopes of an individual medal, as well as the team, but if I'd have gone clear yesterday and had this show jumping round, I'd be even more disappointed. Yogi (Breisner) tried to console me by saying that I'd been the star at the last two Championships and this time it was going to be someone else."
So, not for the first time this week, Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz had extra pressure on them to perform - first it was the dressage, then first to go around yesterday's tricky cross country and now to secure a clear round to keep the team in contention for the gold medal. She rode the round of her life on an exuberant Opposition Buzz to go clear all the way and inside the time which was proving difficult to do. They finished on their dressage score of 51.2 which was good enough for 15th place. "I'm delighted and quite emotional! He's an unorthodox jumper and I worry about him having back rails down but not today. I'm so proud of him. When I walked the course I thought it would suit him and that time would be tight. To complete on my dressage score is such an achievement - I just want to hug the horse! Yes I had pressure on me all week but I knew what I had to do," said an elated Nicola. Alistair, Nicola's husband, later said that an American lady met him in the Stadium and put a dime (10 cent coin) in his hand and she said it was luck for his horse - well, thank you whoever you are!
Mary King was our third rider to go and nothing less than a clear round would do to keep the team in the hunt. Her horse, Imperial Cavalier looked like yesterday's exertions had taken nothing out of him and he jumped brilliantly, Mary using all her experience as it was clear she wanted a gold medal to add to the one she won 16 years ago in The Hague. It was clear all the way to put more pressure on the Nations around us for a three day total of 46.2 which left them sixth overall. "When I walked the show jumping course I thought it was a fair test and after watching a few saw the time was tight but the good horses were clear. I had him nicely under control in the arena today - unlike the other occasion he was in there - for his dressage! It's down to William now but he's cool headed and has a consistent horse. We'll see what happens!" said Mary after her round.
It was down to William - both for a team gold and for his own individual honours. Cool Mountain cantered into the ring looking relaxed and William rode him expertly for the vital clear - the team gold was assured and an individual medal on a score of 42.0 - but would it be Silver? The leader throughout, Germany's Michael Jung had a good lead over William and could afford two fences down - but he didn't need any lives and was clear all the way to become World Champion. New Zealand's Andrew Nicholson was promoted to bronze with a clear round on Nereo. Britain took team gold (139.4), Canada, the dark horses of the competition, won silver (151.5) and New Zealand finished in bronze (154.8).
William commented; "It's been an incredible week! I certainly didn't come here expecting to win two medals. The team was always the priority and we knew there would be some strong nations, particularly Germany. When I went in, I knew I had breathing space for the team medal but I just didn't want to lose the medal and let everyone down. Coming here in the spring, with help from UK Sport Lottery Funding, really gave me a boost as I knew he could cope jumping on the surface. He gave me a good feeling and I'm relieved it's now over."
Our two individual riders also went well today with Piggy French lowering one rail on Jakata for a final score of 51.4 in 16th place. Pippa Funnell certainly justified her selection with Redesigned by jumping clear and finishing on their dressage score of 45.5 in fifth.
Added on: 19/01/11.
Email this article to a friend or shareVoices for Horses offers news, articles and videos from third party providers unless otherwise stated. We do not necessarily endorse the views expressed or content and make it available to you only as a service. All news items, articles and videos are copyright of the authors, film makers and original publications.
