IRELAND HAVE WITHDRAWN from the team showjumping event at the Tokyo Olympics following a nightmare opening round in the qualifiers.
Replacing Cian O’Connor, who missed out due to a nosebleed to his horse Kilkenny, reserve rider Shane Sweetnam was first up for Ireland with Alejandro.
After losing a shoe early on, Alejandro looked uncomfortable throughout and suffered a frightening fall.
While both rider and horse appeared to walk away unscathed, they were eliminated from the round.
Bertram Allen and Darragh Kenny were the next riders due out for Ireland, but the decision has been made to withdraw the team altogether with little or no chance of progressing.
Shane Sweetnam and Alejandro endure nightmare round as Sweetnam battles on after the horse loses a shoe, but they are eliminated and Team Ireland withdraw #Tokyo2020 #RTESport #EquestrianJumping #RTESport
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 6, 2021
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“The Irish team have taken the tough decision to withdrawn their two remaining horses from today’s Olympic qualifier,” a statement from Horse Sport Ireland reads.
“With the new Olympic format of just three riders on a team and no discard score, it was extremely unlikely that Ireland could make it into the top 10 qualifying places as our first combination did not post a completed score.
“Taking this into consideration, the decision has been taken not to jump Pacino Amiro and VDL Cartello and to save them for another day.”
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