Olympics 2012: First Day Round-up Show Jumping

Olympics 2012: First Day Round-up Show Jumping

The first qualifying round for show jumping serves to set the order for the team competition and also eliminates the lowest placing 15 riders out of the first day field of 75 riders. The course, while certainly not a give-me, was welcoming and not too technical, but it proved to be more challenging that it first appeared. The time was a little tight, catching even some of the most experienced riders including Marcus Ehning (GER), Penelope Leprovost (FRA) and Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA).

A few highlights: Nick Skelton of the home team, highly regarded for an individual medal, was right on target. McLain Ward (USA) also had a stylish clear round as did team-mate Rich Fellers.

For the rest of the British team, Ben Maher was also clean, but Scott Brash had four and Peter Charles had difficulty in the first double, racking up 8 faults with an additional 2 time faults added.

For Team Canada, Eric Lamaze produced a text-book clear, Ian Millar had 4 faults, Beth Underwood dropped a rail and a time fault, and Tiffany Foster had an unlucky 8 faults.

The Dutch team had a spectacular 4 clear rounds, so are looking very strong contenders. After Ward's clear, 18-year-old Reed Kessler stayed right on form having only a single time fault.

Some surprises: After a smooth uneventful trip around the course, Christian Ahlman got in trouble at the third fence from home having two fences down and a stop in the final double with time faults for a total of 15. Pius Schwizer, one of the most experienced of the Swiss riders, had an 8 fault round. Beezie Madden, always a stalwart of the US team, had a a very strange elimination - adding a stride into a double combination, her horse produced a very weak jump then couldn't get the two strides out so Beezie pulled up, then had what appeared to be the same thing go wrong ending in a stop and elimination.

The full results:

Individual Ranking After 1st Qualifier

After 75 Riders
Rk	Bib	Athlete	Horse	Pen. Points	+
=1	366	VRIELING J	BUBALU	0 Q	+
=1	315	AFFONSO DE MIRANDA	RAHMANNSHOF'S BOGENO	0 Q	+
=1	341	SKELTON N	BIG STAR	0 Q	+
=1	333	DELESTRE S	NAPOLI DU RY	0 Q	+
=1	384	RIVETTI C	TEMPLE ROAD	0 Q	+
=1	377	FREDRICSON J	LUNATIC	0 Q	+
=1	330	BLUMAN D	SANCHA	0 Q	+
=1	371	GUERDAT S	NINO DES BUISSONNETS	0 Q	+
=1	389	WARD M	ANTARES	0 Q	+
=1	311	LE JEUNE P	VIGO D'ARSOUILLES	0 Q	+
=1	365	VAN DER VLEUTEN M	VERDI	0 Q	+
=1	354	AL SAUD HPA	DAVOS	0 Q	+
=1	340	MAHER B	TRIPPLE X	0 Q	+
=1	345	MEYER JF	LAMBRASCO	0 Q	+
=1	360	MICHAN A.	ROSALIA LA SILLA	0 Q	+
=1	370	ESTERMANN P	CASTLEFIELD ECLIPSE	0 Q	+
=1	303	HARGREAVES J	VEDOR	0 Q	+
=1	363	HOUTZAGER M	TAMINO	0 Q	+
=1	318	REYNOSO FERNANDEZ	MAESTRO ST LOIS	0 Q	+
=1	322	LAMAZE E	DERLY CHIN DE MUZE	0 Q	+
=1	336	STAUT K	SILVANA	0 Q	+
=1	378	VON ECKERMANN H	ALLERDINGS	0 Q	+
=1	347	MICHAELS-BEERBAUM	BELLA DONNA	0 Q	+
=1	372	MUFF W	KIAMON	0 Q	+
=1	305	TOPS-ALEXANDER E	ITOT DU CHATEAU	0 Q	+
=1	386	FELLERS R	FLEXIBLE	0 Q	+
=1	309	DEMEERSMAN D	BUFERO VAN HET PANISHOF	0 Q	+
=1	364	SCHRODER G	LONDON	0 Q	+
=1	351	SUGITANI T	AVENZIO	0 Q	+
=1	376	BENGTSSON RG	CASALL	0 Q	+
=1	348	O'CONNOR C	BLUE LOYD 12	0 Q	+
=1	310	LANSINK J	VALENTINA VAN 'T HEIKE	0 Q	+
=33	357	BAHAMDAN K	NOBLESSE DES TESS	1 Q	+
=33	344	EHNING M	PLOT BLUE	1 Q	+
=33	314	TERCEIRA J	BERNADIEN VAN WESTUUR	1 Q	+
=33	335	LEPREVOST P	MYLORD CARTHAGO	1 Q	+
=33	331	DIAZ R	ROYAL VINCKENBURG	1 Q	+
=33	387	KESSLER R	CYLANA	1 Q	+
=33	380	HAMCHO AS	WONDERBOY	1 Q	+
=33	317	PESSOA R	REBOZO	1 Q	+
41	353	AL DUHAMI R	BAYARD VAN DE VILLA THERE	2 Q	+
=42	361	PIZARRO N	CROSSING JORDAN	4 Q	+
=42	312	WATHELET G	CADJANINE Z	4 Q	+
=42	349	TWOMEY B	TINKA'S SERENADE	4 Q	+
=42	338	BRASH S	HELLO SANCTOS	4 Q	+
=42	381	NAGEL B	NIACK DE L'ABBAYE	4 Q	+
=42	323	MILLAR I	STAR POWER	4 Q	+
=42	301	LAROCCA JM	ROYAL POWER	4 Q	+
=42	334	GUILLON O	LORD DE THEIZE	4 Q	+
=42	382	OFFEL K	VIVANT	4 Q	+
=42	329	MILTHALER C	HYO ALTANERO	4 Q	+
=42	304	PATERSON-ROBINSONJ	LANOSSO	4 Q	+
=53	321	HENSELWOOD J	GEORGE	5 Q	+
=53	308	RAHIMOV J	WARRIOR	5 Q	+
=53	332	EL ZOGHBY K	WERVEL WIND	5 Q	+
=53	325	CARRASCO R	OR DE LA CHARBONIERE	5 Q	+
=53	359	FERNANDEZ F	VICTORIA	5 Q	+
=58	326	COUVE CORREA T	UNDERWRAPS	6 Q	+
=58	356	SHARBATLY AW	SULTAN	6 Q	+
=60	328	PAROT S	AL CALYPSO	8 Q	+
=60	320	FOSTER T	VICTOR	8 Q	+
=60	368	DINIZ L	LENNOX	8 Q	+
=60	373	SCHWIZER P	CARLINA IV	8 Q	+
64	302	MADORNO A	MILANO DE FLORE	9 R	+
=65	369	TUGANOV V	LANCERO	10 R	+
=65	339	CHARLES P	VINDICAT	10 R	+
=67	350	HANI BISHARAT I	VRIEDA O	12 R	+
=67	358	AZCARRAGA J	GANGSTER	12 R	+
69	343	AHLMANN C	CODEX ONE	15 R	+
70	383	ONISHCHENKO A	COMTE D'ARSOUILLES	18 R	+
71	352	TAKEDA R	ARI	22 R	+
=72	306	WILLIAMS M	WATCH ME	42 R	+
=72	319	MOTTA RIBAS C	WILEXO	42 R	+
=72	379	FREDRICSON L	MATRIX	42	+
=72	388	MADDEN E	VIA VOLO	42	+