TEAM Ireland’s show jumpers secured a spot in Friday’s Jumping Team Final finishing sixth of the 20 on nine faults in the team qualifier to begin their Paris 2024 campaign this morning at the picturesque Palace of Versailles.
The Irish show jumping team of Daniel Coyle with Legacy, Shane Sweetnam with the Irish-bred James Kann Cruz, and Olympic Bronze Medallist, Cian O’Connor with Maurice represented Team Ireland to become one of the ten top nations to compete for medals.
Shane Sweetnam opened up with 4 faults on James Kann Cruz, before Daniel Coyle and Legacy settled any potential nerves with a clear round.
Anchor man Cian O’Connor was on his way to a flawless round, but knocked the plank in the triple before coming home just outside the time to finish on five faults.
Team Ireland would finish with a total team time of 230.22 and nine penalties, Germany would achieve the top performance in the qualifiers with a team time of 229.74 and zero penalties.
After his round four time Olympian O’Connor said: “Perfect start to our competition – Shane got us off to a great start and Daniel’s mare was sensational.”
“There’s something different about the three-man format – you saw Peder Fredricson nipped out at the well and it’s very nearly cost them dearly so I want to be safe, get round in one piece and have a go at it tomorrow,” said O’Connor.
“Top 10 finish was the aim of the day today – whether you finish first or tenth it’s just to determine the order of jumping so we didn’t put too much pressure on ourselves. We’ll have a good chat tonight and hopefully we’ll have a few more clears tomorrow.”
At the final, all 10 will start on zero penalties, and a jump-off will take place in the event of a tie to decide the medal placings.
They will compete at 1pm on Friday August 2 against Germany, USA, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Sweden, Israel and Mexico for a chance at the medals.
