Live blogging the team show jumping medals: Sweden gold, USA silver

Can the Swedes do it? They are on quite a streak; three clear in the individual qualifier, three in the jump-off and a silver medal; three clear in the team qualifier. Will it hold through the team medal competition?

Follow along to see how the competition went. If you’d like to watch a recap on TV in the U.S., it will be on NBCSN from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. today and highlights will be aired on NBC itself from 3:15-4:15 p.m. today with 1984 Olympic team show jumping gold medalist Melanie Smith Taylor commentating.

Here we go. It’s 6 a.m. at Baji Koen Equestrian Park as the final equestrian competition of the Olympics, as Santiago Varela of Spain designs yet another fantastic course, both beautiful and testing, as the teams come back. They have to cope not only with a triple combination that has a liverpool oxer in the middle, but also two double combinations and a water jump.

The first rider, Fabian Sejanes on Emir, has three fences down for Argentina. and winds up with two more penalties for exceeding the 82-second time allowed. The 10 teams are going in reverse order of standing.

Marc Houtzager and Dante have two rails for the Dutch, plus one time penalty, while Brazil’s Marion Modolo Zanotelli on Edgar M is the first without time penalties, but has three down. Britain’s Holly Smith cannot improve on that, and in fact, has four rails within the time on former event horse Denver.

As I have said repeatedly in my blogs, don’t count out the French in eventing (where they medaled) and show jumping. Simon Delestre and Berlux Z have a lovely trip, with just a single time fault to put their country into the early lead. But it doesn’t last, as Laura Kraut of the U.S. turns in the first double-clear with Baloutinue, a horse she just started riding in April.

She was spot-on everywhere, saying, “whoa, whoa” going into the triple of a vertical/oxer/vertical as he aced it. It was the first perfect round for the U.S. in jumping at Baji Koen since the discipline got under way on Tuesday.

European Champion Martin Fuchs has had a disappointing competition with the marvelous Clooney. Here he has the A at the double down and a fault at the water for eight within the time. Germany, always a threat, is less so after Andre Thieme has two rails near the end of the course with Chakaria. Fence 11 comes down for Peter Devos and Claire of Belgium.

Then Sweden comes out in the same form it has showed throughout the Games. Henrik von Eckermann and the shoeless King Edward are clear in 78.05 seconds, moving his country into the lead at the end of the first group of riders, because Laura Kraut’s clean round was clocked in 79.33 seconds. King Edward has not had a rail down in five rounds. Will the rest of his team follow suit?

SECOND GROUP OF RIDERS

Harrie Smolders, former world number one, is in the rotation for the Netherlands for the first time with Bingo Du Parc. He replaces William Greve, who had three rails down yesterday. On the good side, the horse is fresh; on the other side, he hasn’t jumped in this arena until now. No matter, he’s clean, despite getting a little close to the A element of the Japanese fan double. He just made the time allowed of 82 in 81.98.

Another substitution is Yuri Mansur of Brazil for Rodrigo Pessoa, who had copious faults in the team qualifier. Yuri and Alfons. Good move. Yuri only had one rail, at the middle element of the triple, an oxer over a liverpool that had several of the horses looking at the water.

Britain’s Harry Charles hasn’t had an easy time of it at the Games, pulling out of the individual finals after three rails and having another three in the team qualifier while subbing for Scott Brash, whose horse, Jefferson, strained a leg. But Harry and Romeo 88 are improving, and have just two down, the middle element of the triple and the A element of the Japanese fan combination.

France has another clear with one time fault from Matthieu Bilot with Quel Filou. They’re in the lead.

Jessie Springsteen for the U.S. has a rail at the mascot fence after the double with Don Juan, but isn’t ruffled and rides a lovely round after that in 78.89 seconds.It’s her first time in the Olympics, where she is flanked by team gold medal veterans, Laura and McLain Ward. That’s a nice security blanket.

It all goes wrong for Bryan Balsiger of Switzerland with Twenty Two des Biches, as four rails come down. And now Germany has a total of 12 as Maurice Tebbel and Don Diarado topple a rail at the B element of the Japanese fan double.

Belgium’s Jerome Guery on the stallion Quel Homme de Hus, his gold medal team partner from the 2019 European Championships, showed their form with a clear inside the time in 81.33. Belgium and the U.S. both have 4 faults as the second round of riders is coming to an end.

Sweden has its first rail in this Olympics, as Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Indiana fault at the middle element of the triple, but the country has given up its lead to France, which has just two time penalties. The U.S. is third with 4, behind Sweden based on time, as Belgium is fourth in a slower time with 4.

With no chance of a medal in this competition, Great Britain has dropped out and individual gold medalist Ben Maher will not bring Explosion W forward. The top-ranked horse/rider combination in the world and his nation certainly got what they came for, as it looks like Britain will be the only country to have medaled in all three disciplines.

7:15 a.m. EDT: FINAL GROUP OF RIDERS

This may not be the last round. Teams on equal faults will jump off, but if France jumps a clear, it will stay at the top of the heap.The teams are going in reverse order of merit after round two.

We’re starting off with 10th place Argentina, which has 27 penalties. Matias Albarracin on Cannavaro adds to that with five rails down and two time faults. The final total for Argentina is 49.

Swiss 2012 Olympic champion Steve Guerdat and Venard de Cerisy have a rail at the vertical after the water, always tricky to stretch for the water and then come back quickly to a narrower frame. He ends on 4, bringing the Swiss total to an uncharacteristic 28.

Pedro Veniss for Brazil with Quabri de Lisle have a rail at the first of two double combinations on course, then adds two more and a time penalty, making the team total 29, behind the Swiss.

World number one-ranked Daniel Deusser of Germany and Killer Queen were expected to be a real factor here, but that didn’t work out.in the individual.  And their bid ended early, after a rail at the first element of the triple and refusal at the second element when she came too close to attempt take-off. Daniel took a courtesy fence and left the arena. That’s it for Germany, which will be behind every team that completes with three riders, but they are ahead of Great Britain, which also dropped out.

Maikel van der Vleuten of the Netherlands and Beauville Z  had the A of the triple down and the fourth fence from the end to bring their team total at 17 penalties and finish in the top five.

Gregory Wathelet and Nevados from the winning team in the Rome Nations Cup are eyeing a team medal until having a rail over the middle element of the triple, an oxer which has water underneath it. Then it’s another rail at the first element of the Japanese fan double, to put Belgium on 12 faults, with a medal unlikely

The U.S. will medal! What color will it be? McLain Ward has just one rail with Contagious  at the Hachiko oxer, named for a loyal dog. It’s number 11, with a 1.6-meter spread. That brings the U.S. total to 8.

No one can believe that the last fence of the last round goes down for Sweden to tie with the U.S. as All In has his first rail in two Olympic Games for Peder Fredricson. That jump is the Paris 2024 liverpool, in honor of the next Olympic venue, where hopefully masks won’t be required! It’s a tradition to have the final fence of the last course at the Games pass the torch forward to the next Olympics.

We have a jump-off between Sweden and the U.S. on 8 penalties each after Penelope LeProvost of France loses the 2016 gold menal nation’s lead with Vancouver de Lanlore’s knockdown at the first element of the first double and then a refusal, then another refusal as Penelope goes to retake the first element. The result is elimination, sinking France to eighth/

Sweden will jump off with the U.S. for gold and silver (each has 4 penalties) while Belgium claims bronze on 12 penalties. The Netherlands was fourth on 17 penalties, followed by Switzerland (28), Brazil (29), Argentina (49) and then the drop-outs, France, Germany and Great Britain, all teams that didn’t complete with all three of their riders today. Not having a drop score available makes a big difference.

Although Sweden’s collective time in the round is 235.65 to the USA’s 237.20, with the same number of faults, time doesn’t count for the final placing, which is why a tiebreaker is needed.

JUMP-OFF

7:55 a.m. EDT: All three riders for both Sweden and the U.S. will ride in this decider to break their 8-penalty tie over a shortened course with interesting loops. Their combined scores and time decide who gets silver and who gets gold. Each nation alternates its riders in turn.

Laura Kraut is clear again,  in 41.33 seconds; Baloutinue is really on the mark with a pilot who has had him for less than four months, Henrik von Eckermann is clear for Sweden in 42 seconds.on King Edward, who now has the record for no rails down during the Olympics.

Jessie Springsteen in her first Olympics goes second for the U.S., is clear in 42.95 after taking a chance to gallop to the last fence. It was her first fault-free round of the Games on Don Juan. This is close! For Sweden, Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Indiana are clean as well in 41.89 seconds.

Now the USA’s anchor, McLain Ward, is clean in 39.92 on Contagious. It’s his first fault-free trip of the Games; he got it when it counted. McLain was the anchor for the gold medal team  at the 2018 World Equestrian Games, which also ended in a jump-off between America and Sweden.

What will All In do for Sweden this time? It all comes down to this gallant little gelding and Peder Fredricson. He must finish in 40.30 seconds or better to claim victory for Sweden with a clear round. He does it, in 39.01, and clear. Sweden is timed at a total of 122.90 in the jump-off; the U.S. at 124.20

Sweden gets its first show jumping team gold medal since 1924 (they also won in 1912 and 1920; USA, the 2018 world champions, claim silver for the second Olympics in a row, and the 2019 European gold medalists Belgium have bronze, that nation’s third Olympic team show jumping medal and its first since 1976.

What an exciting final. Great horses and superb riding in a challenge that will make Santiago Varela even more popular than he already is, I daresay.

Lots of hugging everywhere. What a way to end 12 days of stellar equestrian competition in the Games that Covid couldn’t kill. So glad they went ahead, despite all the controversy. Kudos to Japan for handling it so well.

The athletes didn’t get the usual Olympic experience, no mingling with competitors from other countries, sightseeing or going to sports other than their own. Worst of all, fans couldn’t watch in person, which also meant athletes’ families couldn’t be there.

But for equestrian, it was still the test of horses and riders that it was meant to be, and everyone should be grateful that it could proceed.