There is a lot to be said about the Olympic team qualifier in Tokyo, which went under a new and much debated format, but we will get back to that after Saturday's team final. For now, we look back at the qualifier where Simon Delestre's Berlux Z seemed very happy to finally compete at the Olympics after waiting on the sideline as reserve for France – finishing the course with a buck and only one time penalty after an unbelievable round.
All photos © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping. No reproduction of these images is permitted.
The Swedes continued their domination and flew around the tricky track set by Santiago Varela. Seeing their horses jump today, you would not guess that they already had done three demanding rounds over the last couple of days including a jump-off. No matter how it unfolds tomorrow and no matter who will take the medals, Sweden has definitely impressed!
Germany's Maurice Tebbel was also one of the riders coming in from reserve position, to really impress. Tebbel delivered a round on only two time penalties with Don Diarado, riding immaculate as usual. Here in the penultimate combination, the Hanafuda Playing Cards, that caused trouble for so many as it followed on six tight or five flowing strides from the previous fence.
This might be exactly how the Mexicans feel about the new Olympic team format... With two riders doing great – one finishing on a time penalty and the other on five faults – they still had no chance for the final whatsoever since one of their three riders got eliminated. A team with three riders finishing the course, no matter on how many faults, would always be ranked higher than a team with only two riders getting through the finish line.
Ireland's Shane Sweetnam had a hard Olympic day. It started off well, but at the triple bar coming into the triple combination, Alejandro pulled a shoe and must have also stepped on himself as he afterwards got completely unsettled and way too careful. Unfortunately, it ended with a fall for horse and rider who luckily both could walk out of the arena by themselves. This also meant game over for Ireland, as under the new Olympic format there are only three riders and no drop score.
Israel was another team that suffered under the new Olympic format, which opened for more flags but less riders per team. We have from previous Olympic editions been used to four riders and a drop-score, whereas for Tokyo there were three riders who all counted towards the result. Here, Teddy Vlock's Amsterdam 27 that decided to jump over the flowers instead of the Himeji Castle at no. 2 and a few fences later the two had a nasty fall. Luckily they seemed ok when leaving the arena, and thankfully Vlock wore an airbag that probably saved him from injuries.