IRELAND’S EVENTERS HAVE secured Olympic qualification, as a result of an outstanding fourth-place finish at the FEI World Championships in Aachen on Sunday.
Sam Griffiths’ squad of Ian Cassells with Millridge Atlantis (ISH), Pádraig McCarthy with MGH Zabaione (ISH), Austin O’Connor with Colorado Blue, and Aoife Clark with Full Monty de Lacense, were in contention for a superb bronze medal right to death but were denied by USA.
Assuring that they would be in the line-up for the Los Angeles Games in 2028 was the primary target for last year’s European Championship silver medallists, however.
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Six places were on offer, though with USA guaranteed participation as hosts, seventh would have been enough.
The quartet sat in seventh position, on 93.3 penalties, after the first dressage phase which took place over Thursday and Friday, after clear jumping rounds by all four team members, as well as individual competitor Georgie Goss (riding Kojak), in yesterday’s cross-country, Ireland moved up to fourth position overnight.
All five Irish representatives finished inside the top 30 of the individual rankings, with Aoife Clark the highest in 11th.
The dual Olympian, who finished seventh individually at the London Games in 2012, is optimistic about the future but admitted to feeling that this result was a little bittersweet.
“It has been a fantastic week,” said Clark. “The team spirit was great, the horses all jumped well and everyone rode well, and Georgie did really well in the individual too.
“Everyone was saying that the Olympic qualification was the priority, and it was, and it means a lot to have it, but we were a little disappointed not to get the medal. And I suppose that shows how far we have come, that we have that ambition.
“Fourth in the world is a bloody good result. And there is a lot to look forward to. Our horses are very young. Okay, you have Salty, who was brilliant again but the other three horses are 10, 11 and 12. If you look at the teams we were battling against for the medal, Switzerland and USA, and even Great Britain and Germany, they had horses that were far more experienced and some of those won’t be around in two years.
“My horse is such an athlete, and I was so proud. He used to be quite nervous and Aachen is one of the most atmospheric arenas around. He definitely got a bit lit up and didn’t make the shape he can over his jumps, but he is so young and would not have been in that sort of atmosphere before.
“He will learn, and in that respect, it was brilliant for the entire team. We would love to have had a medal and were disappointed not to get it, but we are in there among the best in the world now and that’s where we want to be.”
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Ireland eventing team secure Olympics spot
IRELAND’S EVENTERS HAVE secured Olympic qualification, as a result of an outstanding fourth-place finish at the FEI World Championships in Aachen on Sunday.
Sam Griffiths’ squad of Ian Cassells with Millridge Atlantis (ISH), Pádraig McCarthy with MGH Zabaione (ISH), Austin O’Connor with Colorado Blue, and Aoife Clark with Full Monty de Lacense, were in contention for a superb bronze medal right to death but were denied by USA.
Assuring that they would be in the line-up for the Los Angeles Games in 2028 was the primary target for last year’s European Championship silver medallists, however.
Six places were on offer, though with USA guaranteed participation as hosts, seventh would have been enough.
The quartet sat in seventh position, on 93.3 penalties, after the first dressage phase which took place over Thursday and Friday, after clear jumping rounds by all four team members, as well as individual competitor Georgie Goss (riding Kojak), in yesterday’s cross-country, Ireland moved up to fourth position overnight.
All five Irish representatives finished inside the top 30 of the individual rankings, with Aoife Clark the highest in 11th.
The dual Olympian, who finished seventh individually at the London Games in 2012, is optimistic about the future but admitted to feeling that this result was a little bittersweet.
“It has been a fantastic week,” said Clark. “The team spirit was great, the horses all jumped well and everyone rode well, and Georgie did really well in the individual too.
“Everyone was saying that the Olympic qualification was the priority, and it was, and it means a lot to have it, but we were a little disappointed not to get the medal. And I suppose that shows how far we have come, that we have that ambition.
“Fourth in the world is a bloody good result. And there is a lot to look forward to. Our horses are very young. Okay, you have Salty, who was brilliant again but the other three horses are 10, 11 and 12. If you look at the teams we were battling against for the medal, Switzerland and USA, and even Great Britain and Germany, they had horses that were far more experienced and some of those won’t be around in two years.
“My horse is such an athlete, and I was so proud. He used to be quite nervous and Aachen is one of the most atmospheric arenas around. He definitely got a bit lit up and didn’t make the shape he can over his jumps, but he is so young and would not have been in that sort of atmosphere before.
“He will learn, and in that respect, it was brilliant for the entire team. We would love to have had a medal and were disappointed not to get it, but we are in there among the best in the world now and that’s where we want to be.”
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