One of the scariest things that happened on Halloween is the prospect that the U.S. may not qualify for the Paris Olympics, after a difficult start at the Pan American Games in Chile.
The team needs to be among the top three in the final standings, excluding Brazil, the leader after the first round with 4.32 penalties and already qualified for Paris by earning a berth at the Nations Cup final in Spain this month.
McLain Ward and Contagious.
Following Halloween’s one-round speed class, the U.S. is fifth on 12.37 penalties. Standing in the way of a trip to Paris for a U.S squad next year are Colombia—a bit of a surprise to some, in second place on 7.29—followed by Canada (9.62) and Argentina (12.01). No team but Brazil in the Western Hemisphere has made the cut for Paris already. Mexico, with capable riders and horses, is on the USA’s heels with 14.58 penalties.
The U.S. has a chance to recoup under the two-round Nations Cup format Wednesday, but it’s by no means a sure thing that it will get a ticket to Paris or add to its total of 31 medals in the history of the Pan Am Games.
U.S. Show Jumping Coach Robert Ridland was able to keep the situation in perspective.
“The bottom line is, today is one of three rounds. We knew going in, and it’s always the same situation going to a championship format like this, and we talked about it before we even walked the course, the general rule of thumb is that you can’t win it on the first day, but you can lose it, and our focus is now on improving for the second day,” he observed.
“We didn’t lose it today and after you do the (penalty) conversions, the field is pretty bunched up in the middle. There are several very good teams here, and truthfully, that has been the pattern in many of the most recent Pan American Games, which is not like it was a few decades ago.
“It’s no surprise to us that Colombia and Argentina are as high up as they are,” he continued.
“You have six incredibly good teams and five of them are relatively close together, especially in the middle, where we are. Our takeaway today is no different than what we knew coming in, you don’t ride not to lose, but you can’t also leave everything on the table on the first day because there are twice as many jumps tomorrow and it only gets bigger from here on out. Our team needs to focus on what we can control, which is how we approach tomorrow, and it’s a new day for each of the teams here.”
Laura Kraut on Dorado 212 was the only penalty-free U.S. rider. She’s in tenth place individually with 3.39 penalties. Her time of 79.66 seconds was slower than McLain Ward’s 79.56, even with four seconds added to his total for a knockdown by Contagious at the fence flanked by replicas of coins. He has 3.34 penalties in ninth place.
“He was on springs,” said Laura of her Dorado, noting that she was under pressure because she “could imagine all four riders were riding my horse around in there today.”
“I’m getting used to it, but I think that was probably why he was a bit slower than was intended but he did his job, he was perfect. So let’s just hope we can go forward tomorrow and do the same.”
Laura Kraut and Dorado 212.
Kent Farrington is twenty-fifth after two knockdowns with Landon to accumulate 5.64 penalties. The fourth U.S. team member, Karl Cook, ran into trouble at a 1.5-meter-high oxer over a Liverpool, the fourth of 13 obstacles, which caused lots of knockdowns.
But in his case, the problem there was a run-out with Caracole de la Roque, which added to his time and caused penalties in that way. He also had two rails for a total of 19.28 penalties, and is forty-third of 46 starters in the rankings.
His was the team’s drop score for the day. Karl did well not to fall off when his horse ran out to the right at the Liverpool and it looked as if he might not stay on, but he managed to get back in the saddle.
Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque. (Photo courtesy USEF)
Individually, Brazil is 1-2, with the 2019 Pan Am champion Marlon Modolo Zanotelli on Deese de Coquerie (0 penalties) leading the way, and Pedro Veniss on Nimrod de Muze Z second with 0.26.
Colombia’s Rene Lopez Lizarazo is third (0.72) on Kheros van’T Hoogeinde.
The course by Brazil’s Marina Azevedo of Brazil started out with the type of challenge she likes to use right from the beginning, with an S curve from the first fence to the second, and then to the third, a stone wall with a gap in the middle and water beneath it. Many of the riders, including McLain, made sure to give their horses a look at it before they proceeded through the starting timers.
The beautiful course designed by Marina Azevedo.
The fences were beautifully done to reflect the character of Chile, with flamingos at one combination, a fiesta theme for another and even a tribute to Chilean poetess and educator Gabriela Mistral (one standard on that jump included a book). Click here for individual standings.
Click here for team standings.
