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Thursday, March 28, 2024

U.S. qualifies for competiton for team medals

TOKYO, Japan--Taking advantage of the ability in the Tokyo Olympics to switch riders back and fort between competitions, The U.S. Jumping Team of Laura Kraut on Baloutinue, Jessie Springsteen on Don Juan van de Donkhoeve and McLain Ward on Contagious qualified for the Jumping Team Final to be held on Saturday, Aug. 7, beginning at 7:00 p.m. JST.which is 6:00 a.m. EDT.

McLain Ward on Contagious TokyoMcLain Ward on Contagious Ward didn't compete in the Individual, being saved to the Team competition, which is the most important to win.

With a total of 13 faults, 4 each from Kraut and Springsteen and 5 from Ward, the team finished the Team Qualifier competition in fifth, with the top 10 teams advancing to the Final.

All the teams will begin the Final on a clean-slate score of zero, as the scores from the qualifier do not carry over to the team final.

The teams will compete in reverse order of where they placed in the qualifier, with the lowest scoring team going last.

At past Olympics, the scores from both the first team competition and the second counted towards a team's final score, and teams were allowed four riders per team, with one drop score, while this year everything rest on the second team competition and there are only three riders per team with no drop score.

Sweden finished first on 0 faults, followed by Belgium, 4 faults, Germany, four faults, Switzerland, 10 faults, the U.S., 13 faults, France, 15 faults, Great Britain, 20 faults, Brazil, 25 faults, The Netherlands, 26 faults, and Argentina, 27 faults.

 

PRIOR TO the Olympics, Switzerland was the favorite to win the team gold, but so far this has been Sweden's show, having qualified all three riders for the Individual, with two of them making it into the jump-off, and Peder Fredricson on All In winning the Individual bronze medal.

All In has now jumped 10 clean round in the past two Olympics with only 1 time fault.

On the other side of the coin, Explosion W, ridden by Individual gold medalist, Great Britain's Ben Mayer, who said he felt Explosion was one of the three best ever horses in the sport, had a rail down in the qualifier, proving that even the best of horses can had a rail down.

Fences on the course were set at maximum width of 6 meters, but fences were not set at maximum height, although they are expected to be at maximum height in the Final.

After about half the class had gone, riders with good tea scores stopped trying to make the time, which was fairly tight, opting to ride for a clear round, as their scores will be dropped.

Belgium and Germany riders all had clear jumping rounds, but with each rider scoring 1 or 2 time faults.

Ward is tied for third with riders having won the most medals in jumping, and, if the U.S. scores another team medal, he will move up into a tie for second.

Kraut's 4 faults came at the second liverpool,, while Springsteen had trouble adjusting Don Juan to the third to last fence, and had that down, while Ward took his time over the course but had a spread fence down.

“He jumped beautifully, " said Kraut. "I had said when I walked the course that I thought it could be the bogie jump of the night and I myself probably could have gotten him six inches closer to it, and if I could do it again that’s what I’d do, but other than that he didn’t touch a jump and he did everything I asked of him, so I’m really happy. The objective today is to get in tomorrow and pull out all of the stops then.”

“I thought my horse jumped beautifully," said Springsteen. "I was thinking for the time allowed a little bit and I just needed to regroup before that last line, but I’m thrilled with the way he’s jumping. I had a lot more nerves today as opposed to the first day. I want to make everyone at home proud and have a good performance for my teammates and I think we’re sitting in a good spot heading into tomorrow.”

“My horse felt great," said Ward. "This was a new challenge for Contagious and me. We’ve been on the ice for the better part of four weeks, and his last show was Rotterdam, which was over a month ago. Over the last 10 days I think I’ve maybe jumped eight or nine jumps and to jump at this level is a real challenge. He was right there with me and I’m proud of Contagious for stepping up. When I originally got the ride on him, I didn’t know if he was an Olympic horse, and he has proved that he’s capable at this level.”

“The plan is working so far," said chef d'equpe Robert Ridland. "We went into tonight looking for three solid rounds and we wanted to come in fresh, and also know that this is the first of potentially three rounds, specifically if we are fortunate enough to do well tomorrow and end up in a jump-off. The plan was to not leave too much on the table and I think that’s what happened tonight. I thought all three riders rode great and all three horses looked fresh and jumped great. There were three solid rounds and we easily qualified, so we have a good order tomorrow. We’re in good shape and it’s exactly what I was hoping would be the case for us heading into the final day.”

Of the teams that didn't qualify for the Finals, Egypt had 29 faults, China had 35, Mauritania had 37, New Zealand had 39, Czechoslovakia had 45 and Mexico, Japan, Israel and Ireland were eliminated.

The Jumping Team Finals for medals will begin at 7:00 p.m. JST, 6:00 a.m. EDT tomorrow, Aug. 7.

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