Olympic individual show jumping final results: August 19
Nick Skelton and Big Star dominated the jump-off in the final round of the Olympic individual show jumping competition to take the gold medal home to Great Britain. Peder Fredricson on All In captured the silver medal for Sweden, and Eric Lamaze on Fine Lady won the bronze for Canada.
On the horse he won the team gold in the 2012 London Games, 58-year-old Nick Skelton was locked and loaded to win the Rio individual show jumping. But, not until after a timed jump-off that six riders with double clear rounds for the day won their way into. Skelton was the first on the course and set a blazing pace of 42.82 seconds with no jumping penalties. Silver winner
Silver winner Peder Fredricson rode All In leaving all the rails up too but was half a second slower at 43.35. Defending individual gold medal winner Eric Lamaze might as well have been driving a Ferrari, his mare Fine Lady blew the doors off the time in 42.09, but clipped and dropped a rail for four faults and the bronze.
MEDAL RESULT | Equestrian Individual Show Jumping
Lucy Davis, McLain Ward and Kent Farrington represented the U.S. as individuals. Davis and Barron were out of consideration after accruing 12 faults in the morning’s Round A. McLain Ward and Azur knocked a rail down in the afternoon’s Round B, keeping him out of the jump-off. Kent Farrington and Voyeur made it to the jump-off where the long week took its toll in the form of two dropped rails for 8 faults.
Quirky gold medal winning horse
Nick Skelton rides Big Star, but the star of the moment is owned by Gary Widdowson who talked about his horse with Horse & Hound :
“Every time he goes in the tunnel to the arena, as soon as he sees the jumps, he gives this full stallion-like neigh. It shows there’s a bit more to Big Star – he just loves what he does. You can tell – he’s always got his ears pricked, too.”
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“If you watch him in the ring, he really pounds the ground,” he says. “He comes round the corner, Nick’s holding back this runaway train, he’s striking the ground as he goes to the fences, then he throws himself into the ground as he jumps.”