Horse Sport Ireland showjumping team manager Robert Splaine has recommended that Greg Broderick and MHS Going Global are nominated by Horse Sport Ireland to the Olympic Council of Ireland to represent Ireland at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Ireland secured one ticket to the Games after Bertram Allen and Molly Malone V earned them a spot through the FEI Olympic Athletes Ranking (Jumping) Group A. Denis Lynch was the second best Irish rider on the ranking, finishing 27th with All Star 5 while Allen also was ranked 33rd with Romanov. However, under Olympic rules individual places are allocated to the country of the rider who secures the place rather than to the rider. 

“This has been a very difficult decision to make as we are fortunate that our four main contenders for the place are very strong,” said Splaine about the nomination.

Greg Broderick and MHS Going Global were recently double clear in both the Nations Cup and Grand Prix at CSIO5* St. Gallen, Switzerland and were members of last year’s Irish team at Dublin Horse Show where they jumped a double clear round to help Ireland to victory. The pair was also part of the Irish team at last year's European Championships in Aachen.

Ireland is currently the first reserve for an individual place and for a team place at Rio. Should an extra team or individual place open up between now and the definite entry date of July 18th, Splaine has listed three reserve combinations. These are, in alphabetical order:

Bertram Allen and Molly Malone

Denis Lynch and Allstar

Cian O’Connor and Good Luck

Text © World of Showjumping // Source: Horse Sport Ireland // Picture © Jenny Abrahamsson