Equestrian News

Individual Jumping: O'CONNOR Wins First Jumping Gold

Cian O'CONNOR, riding WATERFORD CRYSTAL, won Ireland's first gold medal in Jumping. The 24-year-old from Dublin had a clear round in the final Round B.

NEWSFLASH!!

NEWSFLASH!!
Athens, 10:00pm EEST- - - In his first Olympic Games 25-year-old Cian O'Connor of Ireland, aboard the 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding Waterford Crystal won the individual Gold Medal in show jumping this evening. Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) and Baloubet Du Roulet took the silver medal while Chris Kappler and Royal Kaliber took the bronze. The two went into a jumpoff to determine the silver and bronze, but it ended prematurely for Kappler whose mount came up lame near the end of the course. Canada's Ian Millar and Promise Me ended up 24th overall after lowering five fences in the final round. More later . . .

Diary from Athens

A day off from equestrian competition – and just three more days until the Olympic flame in Athens is extinguished. A good day to pass on some bits of information and trivia that haven’t yet made it into this diary.

Diary from Athens - Grand Prix Freestyle

There was showmanship, there was brilliant horsemanship, there were glitches – and they all made Freestyle day at the Markopoulo Equestrian Centre today an incredible event. The spectator stands were full with huge patches of orange, or red, or blue – depending upon the partisanship of the group in each area.

Anky Van Grunsven and Salinero secure Individual Gold for the Netherlands

With a combined score of 79.253 % the Dutch Freestyle Queen, who won six World Cup Finals, ended up with a deserved score of 85.825 % after a stylish Kür on “L’Esprit Chanson” including a number of French famous songs.

Rider Comments from the Grand Prix Freestyle

"My horse likes classical music and flamengo tunes. You see he is Andalusian and he carries the rtythm in his blood". - Rafael Soto (ESP)

Anky van Grunsven Wins Second Consecutive Gold

Any van Grunsven & Salinero rode away with her second consecutive individual Gold medal after today's freestyle performance. The judging panel were virtually unanimous in their decision.

Eight-Time Olympian Ian Millar Qualifies for Individual Final in Athens

Eight-time Olympian Ian Millar of Perth, ON, took one step closer to the medal podium by qualifying for Friday’s Individual Show Jumping Final at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Team Gold for Germany in Nations Cup

It seemed like a walk in the park for Germany to win its third consecutive gold in Team Jumping with only two rails down in both rounds.

Diary from Athens - Showjumping Part II

It was a matter of who would blink first in a jump off for the Team Silver Medal this evening between the U.S. and Sweden. And it came down to the last rider for each team, when all previous riders had put in clear, quick rounds. With the U.S. over seven seconds ahead at that point, Sweden decided to take the Bronze, which they were very happy with, and save their horses for Friday.