Perhaps the moral of the storyline to the last 48 hours is fight, keep fighting and never stop fighting until the Finish Line is disappearing in your rear view mirrors. The French have looked dangerous since the Europeans last year (where they had to secure Olympic qualification) and the Germans, who were not their usual polished selves on the cross-country, won gold for the Come Back Kids. Sport is an inevitable series of highs and lows and no country felt the face smack of bitter disappointment on jumping day more so than New Zealand. Eventing is a very close knit community and there are a few athletes that are universally held in high esteem and complete respect; Sir Mark Todd is one of those athletes and all felt truly gutted for him.
I can not remember an eventing competition that has entered the cross-country phase with so many teams in a position to grab (or loose) a Team Medal. Listening to the experts, there was never any doubt in their minds that the course would be challenging and that it would take its toll. I am not sure many people predicted it would be quite as influential as it proved to be. Impossible question to answer but I wonder if there was a link between the "opportunity" provided by the closeness of the team scores after dressage and the number of problems the course caused? After the first rotation of the teams it was very clear that it would not be a dressage competition. So this was to be a day of team tactics and intrigue. It was certainly a day of surprises, upsets and also of supreme joy. The biggest cheer of the day was probably reserved for the Chilean rider who made it to the finish line, via a few long routes but who would still be celebrating if not invited to dismount at the finish: His supporters raised the roof of the tent, where we all watch the screens, each time a fence was cleared and the whole gathering went wild when he crossed the finish line.
My job for the day was to try and keep abreast of the scores and also to manage any serious incidents thus allowing the eventing Generals to focus on deploying their Troops. Now let me tell you, keeping up with the scores should be easy in the age of the App but I am a Neanderthal so I like a little manual back up (the mobile data in Deodoro can also be a little dodgy at times). This means one can not desert ones post and careful management of liquid intake is required (no, I am not referring to red wine). The other thing I have noticed over the years is that many people like to go through cross-country day sacrificing themselves to the hunger beast and not eating - hell, I'm not having to ride around the course so I have no intention of going hungry: A couple of homemade ham, cheese, tomato and (of course) Hellmans sandwiches kept me sustained.
For the U.S. it was a day of ups and downs. Out of contention for the Team Medal was not where we wanted to be at the end of the day, but Boyd and Phillip delivered in bucketfuls and Phillip is now auditioning for the Gymnastics team following the "save of the day" at the double of corners. Well when I say "double of corners" very few people actually ended up going straight there.
Boyd and Phillip on cross-country:
Post cross-country is always manic madness in the stable area as the grooms try to bring order once again to disorder and veterinarians, farriers and physiotherapists tend to and preen over their equine charges. I always try to keep out of the way and let the experts focus on ensuring the horses get an opportunity to fully recuperate before the horse inspection and jumping phase. The U.S. eventing team has an outstanding support team with Susan, Steve and Jo-Ann and together with the hardworking (and often under-recognised) grooms they ensured the U.S. horses were ready to perform on the jumping field of play.
If cross-country was a day of nervous tension and unexpected outcomes, then the jumping was a day of tense nerves and surprising outcomes. Teams that had a few whoopsies on the cross-country made amends and Teams that had their fingers almost wrapped around medals dropped legs on a few too many poles. The Germans fought back to Silver and the Aussies secured Bronze. And so to the Individual Finals.....Phillip Dutton clipped one rail but it was still enough to propel him on to the podium and the U.S. Eventing Squad in to a circling orbit of happiness, relief and pure joy.
A very deserving Phillip and Happy:
Once the merry go round of dope testing, media commitments etc had been completed, all gathered back at the hotel for a celebration. David O'Connor made a speech. Boyd Martin made a speech. Boyd had a beer (maybe plural in number) before he made a speech. Boyd has been on the wagon for a number of weeks. No further comment on speeches, length of speeches, or x rating of speeches.
The dressage is underway and Ali Brock delivered a fantastic 72.686%, exactly the same score as Spencer Wilton - I wonder if the U.S. and GBR riders will continue to achieve exactly the same scores; that would liven matters up!!
Ali and Rosie after their test today:
Departures are under way. Vans are stuck in heavy traffic. All is well and normal in Rio.
As I type, I am sitting in the Briefing Room waiting for a 2 p.m. Security update, delayed to 2:30p.m. and it is now 2:48 p.m. Timeliness is Next to Godliness. Apparently not.