IRISH SHOWJUMPING DUO Billy Twomey and Cian O’Connor both safely booked their passage to the second round as the Olympic showjumping competition opened in Greenwich Park on Saturday.
With 75 riders in action on day one, O’Connor got his Olympics off to the perfect start with a double-clear round on board Blue Loyd.
The Meath man was one of 32 riders to finish with zero faults, a score which will aid his bid to qualify for Wednesday’s medal finals.
Earlier in the day, Twomey was on course for a fault-free round of his own before Tinka’s Serenade clipped a fence to put four penalties on his card late on.
The Cork-based rider is tied for 42nd place overnight where he is joined by the other 10 riders to take four faults today.
Competition resumes on Sunday morning at 11am when all remaining 64 riders will jump again. The top 45 will then progress to Monday’s third qualifying round.
