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IRISH SHOW JUMPERS Daniel Coyle and Shane Sweetnam have not been successful at the Olympic show jumping individual final after both riders failed to have a clear run at the Paris games.
Though both riders had good starts on the tough course, with over one-and-a-half metre jumps from the get-go, at the Château de Versailles, their performances fell apart near the end.
The competition has proven tougher as three riders – Germany’s Christian Kukuk, the Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten and Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat – are currently jumping off for gold as all three had clear runs.
Both Irish riders had their runs towards the end of the competition.
This put greater pressure on Coyle. Despite having a near-perfect run at his first-ever Olympics, it toppled on the very last line when his horse, Legacy, hit the rails four times successively. Coyle and Legacy retired at the last fence.
Similarly, Sweetnam had a strong start but the back-to-back jumps on the fourth line proved tough for his horse, James Kann Cruz, who hit the rails on two out of the three jumps.
Coyle and Sweetnam ended up with 16 and 12 penalties, respectively.
Though the disappointing result, Sweetnam and Coyle produced clear runs to book their place in the final of the individual show jumping yesterday – that can’t be taken away.
The42 will bring you the latest breaking stories and sharp analysis on the Olympic Games in Paris today and for the remainder of the games.
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Tremendous effort from two excellent horsemen
Not a Sport but hard luck all the same to the horses. They do all the work.
Well done to the competitors but when the dust settles, it has been a very poor Olympics for Team Ireland.
@Tom tom: it must be draining to be that negative? Tell me, what do you get out of being such a k$lljoy
@Marie Agnew: Team Ireland were ranked number one coming into the Olympics. This is a very underwhelming result for the Equestrian team. It’s not negative. It’s fact.
@james rowan: Not really. This equestrian team was ranked number one coming into the Olympics.
@Alan B: Being a professional showjumper is not my profession. It’s not about my egg and spoon medals. This team were ranked number one coming into the Olympics. They didn’t even challenge for a medal in the end. In every aspect of life you must perform a review. This was as I said above a very disappointing performance from Team Ireland Equestrian team.
@james rowan: I agree, but challenging for number one would be expected. I believe in the team event a mistake was made in team selection. Not because of the rider, but because of the horse. There was a real opportunity to medal had the right team been put out. I also believe the same applied to the individual competition.
@Tom tom: Cop on. Those two horses were exceptional all week, all season in fact. They made the individual final in 2nd and 3rd place and less than a handful jumped clear to the second round. The world number 1 had a fall for goodness sake.
@Tom tom: You are spot on, but unfortunately a few people on here are quiet happy with poor performances and mediocrity from some of our participants in the Olympics, equestrian events are something Ireland should be very competitive at considering our rich history in this sport but somehow when it comes to the Olympics we always falter.
I hope they did not beat the horses
@Sean Money: what a plonker
@Karen Marten: they are renowned for it
Disappointing.
Owning a horse costs serious money. I don’t know why this ‘sport’ is included in the olympics.
@John John: yeah, the sailing too ..
Boats cost serious money as well. However, I’m ok with rowing
@offside again: those who own the horses have serious money to buy and look after the horse . Still it’s not a sport There are some questionable skills tagged as sports in the Olympics but it’s a competition of the best of the best
Some of the obstacles are so high great skill from horse and rider .
@Karen Marten: if you could sit on a dog, it would do the same stuff
@offside again: Your deluded see you in that competition next Olympics so . Muppet
@Karen Marten: I’ll be 65, so I don’t think so
@offside again: your nearly ready to be on RIP so
@Patrick K: I’m starting to prepare myself
have your say