|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Hometown horses Australia takes gold in three-day competitionLatest: Sunday October 01, 2000 07:45 AM
SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- Australia won the gold medal in the equestrian three-day even Tuesday, finishing with a score of 146.8 to silver medalist Britain's 161.0. The U.S. equestrian team won its first medal of the Sydney Games, scoring 175.8 to win the bronze. Although the Americans had better show-jumping rounds, they had lost too much ground in the cross-country portion the previous day. U.S. anchor rider Karen O'Connor of The Plains, Va., dropped two jump rails on Prince Panache, who was stiff after the clean round he put in on the grueling cross-country course. "We're disappointed that the British left the door slightly ajar and we couldn't get through, but we'll still be celebrating tonight," O'Connor said. O'Connor's husband, David, had a clean round on Giltedge, while Nina Fout of Middleburg, Va., had five time faults on 3 Magic Beans to clinch the bronze. Germany finished in fourth with 241.8 points. Fout was disappointed she had piled up time faults on cross-country, but on an emotional high after she left all the rails up in show jumping. "Today was nothing short of a miracle," she said. For the United States, the day's highest drama actually took place much earlier, during the veterinary inspection after the cross-country phase. Two New Zealand horses turned up lame, eliminating that team, which had been in third. That moved the Americans up from fourth. "Everyone is incredibly sorry for ... the New Zealand team," said U.S. team manager Jim Wolf. "These people all compete together every weekend, and no one wants to contend for a medal this way." The final U.S. rider, Linden Wiesman of Bluemont, Va., had two falls on the cross-country course Monday and was eliminated, but she was still on the medal podium with her teammates Tuesday. Wiesman's horse, Anderoo, tried to buck her off during the exuberant victory gallop. "I nearly had my third fall," she said with a laugh. The victory was a three-peat for Australia, which won team gold in '92 and '96, and also for rider Andrew Hoy, who was on all three teams. Ironically, the Australian coach, Wayne Roycroft, was one of the medal presenters. He also serves as president of the International Equestrian Federation eventing committee, the governing body of the sport. "The only better thing would have been to jump up on that podium myself," Roycroft said. "I actually cried a little bit." The battle between the Australians and Americans could start all over Wednesday as three-day action resumes with the dressage test in the individual competition. Among the favorites are David O'Connor on Custom Made and Hoy on Swizzle In. "It's another job," Hoy said. "It won't take long for reality to hit." The Olympics are the only major championship where the team and individual three-day events are separate. Usually, the top three riders in the team event would win individual medals as well. In that case, Stuart Tinney of Australia would have won on Jeepster with 41 points, followed by Ingrid Klimke of Germany on Sleep Late with 41.2 and Karen O'Connor with 43. Because of the rigors of the cross-country phase, the same horse cannot go twice in both competitions. The three-day event consists of dressage (school figures) on the first day, cross-country endurance on the second and show jumping on the third. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
|
