Great Britain’s showjumpers will not be defending the team gold medal they won in London 2012, after failing to qualify for tomorrow’s team final.
Nick Skelton’s Big Star picked up four faults at the water, which he then appealed, although the appeal was unsuccessful.
“That horse has never been in a water jump in his life and I don’t think he was in that one,” said Nick after his round. “The horse jumped amazing. He jumps those things easily and couldn’t have jumped it any better.”
Michael Whitaker also picked up four faults when the grey Cassionato clearly put a foot in the splash.
Ben Maher had the back rail of an oxer on Tic Tac, leaving him and Nick on a score of eight apiece and Michael on nine, having also picked up a time fault.
It put all the pressure on John Whitaker and Ornellaia, the only British pair to have jumped a clear in Sunday’s first individual round.
But things unravelled for the combination today, with Ornellaia refusing at fence 4 and John nearly getting unshipped. The mare was clearly unsettled and continued with another four fences tumbling and three time penalties leaving them on a score of 23 faults, the highest of all of today’s finishers.
“She started off quite well. One, two and three were good and felt confident. I actually had a good distance coming in to the combination, but at the last minute she just pulled up. I don’t know whether it was the colours. No excuses though,” said John.
The team total of 13 faults left the Brits in arrears in 12th place, failing to qualify for the second stage of the competition. Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA are all leading on zero faults, with France breathing down their necks on 1 time penalty. Canada, Switzerland and Sweden also progress to tomorrow’s deciding round.
We will see three of the British riders back in action tomorrow, as Ben, Nick and Michael have all qualified for the individual competition. However, with each rider having had a fence on Sunday’s opener, they face a mammoth challenge to get into Friday’s final – and from there, into the medals.