Singapore: U.S. rider Eirin Bruheim (Houston, Texas) ended competition at the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games on a high note. In her final round on Tuesday in Singapore, she recorded just four faults to wrap-up the two-day Individual Jumping event tied for 17th place with 12 penalties at the Singapore Turf Club Riding Centre.
“Today was really good,” Bruheim said. “I finally felt like I actually understood my horse a bit more. He had calmed down considerably with the crowd. Overall, it was a good experience today and a good way to end the competition.”
Bruheim and Lenny Hays, a 12-year-old TB, were tied for 16th after Sunday’s first round with eight penalties. After the second and final round, she shared the 17th position with Hong Kong’s Jasmine Lai and Caroline Chew of Singapore in the 29-rider field.
“Eirin did a great job with her difficult horse in the last round to be one of a handful with only four faults,” Team Leader Sally Ike said.
Just like the team event, the individual competition finished with a jump-off, but this time it was two. Uruguay’s Marcelo Chirico’s clean run in the jump-off gave him gold, with Mario Gamboa of Colombia taking silver. A six-way tie for bronze finished with Dalma Rushdi Malhas of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on top after jumping clean in a time of 38.05, more than two seconds ahead of the next rider. Malhas became the first female athlete from her country to participate in an Olympic competition.
On Friday in Team Jumping, Bruheim and the other four riders from North and Central America as well as the Caribbean Islands finished in sixth place.
Bruheim, who turned 18 in February, recently graduated from Kaplan College Preparatory online school, which allowed her the ability to train and complete high school. She traveled to Singapore from her family's Nordic Lights Farm near Houston, Texas. In 2010, she has qualified for the North American Young Riders Championships at the Adequan FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North, as well as The Prix des States, Junior Jumper Championships with her top horse Cicero 75.
The equestrian event at the Youth Olympic Games was contested on 38 borrowed horses which trained for the past year in Queensland, Australia, and were brought to Singapore five weeks ago. On Aug. 13, the equestrian jumping athletes drew their mounts, marking the first time that a horse draw has been conducted in Olympic history.
Additional Quotes:
Bruheim: “Everybody here is really good. They all know their stuff, they know how to ride and they know what they need to do. Everyone performed really well. Some had horses that were a little more difficult, but they still rode them the best that anyone could have possibly hoped for.”
About Team USA:
The U.S. Team in Singapore is comprised of 82 athletes in 18 sports, the maximum number of qualified U.S. athletes. Team USA is competing in aquatics (swimming and diving), archery, badminton, basketball, boxing, equestrian, fencing, gymnastics, judo, modern pentathlon, sailing, table tennis, taekwondo, track & field, triathlon, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling. Complete information on Team USA can be found at youtholympicgames.teamusa.org.
About the 2010 Youth Olympic Games:
Singapore is hosting the inaugural Youth Olympic Games from Aug. 14-26, 2010, as young athletes age 14-18 compete in 26 sports and take part in the Culture and Education Program. Approximately 3,600 athletes from around the world will participate, and all 205 National Olympic Committees will be represented. The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games aim to inspire youth to embrace, embody and express the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. More information can be found at www.singapore2010.sg.
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