Word is that it will be the toughest Olympic cross-country trail since Sydney 2000. It's very techinical and twisty so time will be very hard to make (if not impossible), there is also a lot of varying terrain apparently.
Hopefully we'll have an amazing XC day.
I guess that's why there were some surprise inclusions in our team. Hopefully the tougher course can help us but you never know.
We have a possible scandal now. Well it is a bit of a scandl already.
Alexander Onishchenko, rich Ukrainian who has been investing in that international "Ukrainian" jumping team has been accused for corruption in Ukraine. Apparently, he sold no less than 44 horses after that. It is not known for sure, but it is possible that all Ukrainian horses from Olympic long list have been sold (all of them were owned by Onishchenko). If true, that would make them ineligible to compete at the Olympics.
If that happens then it will be Ireland that gets the team quota.
And perhaps more importantly than getting the team quota would be the additional three individual quotas. Cian O'Connor and the Irish media had been highlighting this possibility for a few days.... I hope and pray our team may finally get luck on our side after the rotten luck we endured in qualification.
Yes, it should be. Peru and Chinese Taipei are the only ones that can miss out in case of unfortunate injuries (because they have only one rider each, but I'm really hoping that it won't happen). And if it somehow happens then those quotas will be reallocated within the continental qualification events.
Thanks for the info. I really hope it won't happen too.... injuries are just horrible, I wouldn't wish them on anyone or to ruin an Olympic dream.
For a while I was worried that Chinese Taipei show jumping rider will not make minimum requirements for Rio, because she is really struggling this year with a lot of retirements and eliminations in pretty much every high level class. But, looks like her performance at the qualification event was enough to make minimum requirements (although that was only CSI1* competition ). https://data.fei.org/Horse/Detail.aspx?horseFeiID=102WM64
Nevertheless, Isheau Wong is probably going to get crushed in jumping competition. But it's great that Chinese Taipei will still be able to have their Olympic debut in equestrian. And hopefully she will at least complete the first round.
Does that mean the line-up in terms of possible jumping re-allocations is pretty much closed now?... realistically I mean (I know last minute injuries could occur).
I've read quite a few negative comments about Broderick's selection over Allen. With some people referring to it as robbery and corruption, mainly because Allen is ranked 10th in the World while Broderick is 252nd (16th best Irish). It's easy to play general when everything is looked as black and white, I guess.
Yeah it's true but a lot of those negative commenters probably don't know anything about showjumping.... the rankings aren't that important, current form is way more crucial in my opinion. Greg and Going Global were out for a little while with injury but always perfrom well at Nations Cup (they jumped double clear at last weekend's Nation Cup in St.Gallen and double clear again in the Grand Prix.
It doesn't mean I think they will do much at the Olympics though.... they are untested at a major championships, but having said that, I think the Olympic format will suit them rather than a speed competition and accumulated score.
The Irish showjumping federation are a joke though.... Robert Splaine has overseen 3 consecutive failed attempts at qualifying a showjumping team for the Olympics, and this time only qualified 1 individual.... that's an absolute disaster..... I cannot believe we have now missed 3 Olympics in a row in the team event, it's really shocking. And of course it's not his fault only, but if you want a professional set up, the federation must not allow someone to keep their job after overseeing this disaster. They really need to freshen things up.
Horsesport Ireland in general are run very poorly..... for decades it has been obvious Ireland has real potential in eventing, and yet they do little to nothing to promote the dressage discipline. Also, I get angry every week reading their posts on their website and on Twitter cheering on how Irish show horses are winning big all over the world..... who cares? They aren't representing Ireland.... instead there should be a drive and programme where our breeders are encouraged (financially if needs be) to keep our horses at home.... then we really would be a force in equestrian.
It's the same every Olympics, nothing much changes. The one very encouraging thing is how our underage eventing teams are performing in recent years, I hope this continues.... I see some improvement in our eventers dressage scores but God it's a very slow progress.
I'm surprised that they chose Broderick. Certainly wasn't an easy decision though.
Btw, his horse will probably be named "Going Global" during the Games. That's because, as per Olympic rules, the names of sponsors, syndicates etc. have to be removed from the horses' names in Olympic competitions. I would assume that MHS stands for something like that.
MHS stands for Mill House Stud so yeah it probably will be dropped for the Olympic competition.
Greg Broderick has been nominated by Horse Sport Ireland to represent Ireland in the individual showjumping in Rio. Bertram Allen won the quota place for Ireland but his top horse Molly Malone has not been in top form for a while now.
Greg Broderick will ride MHS Going Global at the Olympics.
In other news, it really looks like sky's the limit for Judy Reynolds and Vancouver. They improved the Irish GP record by another 1% today (75.240%). That's already the top 10 zone for Rio (more or less).
Wow, that's really encouraging news, thanks for bringing this to my attention
McCarthy eliminated after horse fall. Didn't look nice but they are ok.
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The British commentators said there were 3 huge mistakes though.
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