CIAN O’CONNOR said he was ‘totally gutted’ after the Ireland showjumping team’s hopes of qualifying for next year’s Olympics were dashed at the FEI European Championships in Aachen, Germany. Ireland finished just 0.380 penalties behind the third and final Rio qualifiers Spain after a dramatic finale to the team competition on Friday night.
O’Connor, inset, Ireland’s third of four team riders, had jumped clear on Good Luck approaching the 11th fence when a member of the arena staff appeared to run in front of him, before leaping into a flowerbed to avoid the horse and rider. O’Connor had the next fence down. Ireland’s protests were rejected yesterday and they may appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“The horse was jumping really well, I was thinking I had a good feeling like when he jumped clear [on Thursday,” said O’Connor.
“I had to shout at him to get out of the way and it put me off my line, the horse sidestepped him a bit — it was as clear as day the guy was in my way.”
Had O’Connor gone clear, Ireland would have qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. With his four faults on the score card, they finished behind Spain, who took the third qualification spot on offer. Switzerland and Great Britain claimed the other two qualification positions. Afterwards, the Irish chef d’equipe, Robert Splaine, and O’Connor lodged a protest but the FEI said: “The protest was heard by the ground jury, who ruled that as the athlete had continued his round, they saw no reason to stop him by ringing the bell. Under article 233.3 of the FEI jumping rules, the athlete had the opportunity to stop voluntarily due to unforeseen circumstances beyond his control, however he did not do so.
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“The ground jury heard explanations from Robert Splaine and Cian O’Connor, reviewed video footage of the incident, and ruled that the result would stand.”
The rules state that if the athlete stops voluntarily to signal to the ground jury that the obstacle to be jumped is wrongly built or if, due to unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of the athlete, he is prevented from continuing his round under normal circumstances, the clock must be stopped immediately.
It may not be the end of the matter, however. Damian McDonald, Horse Sport Ireland chief executive, said: “We will be examining all of our options provided for within the rules of the FEI, including a potential appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).”