The U.S. show jumping team is a step closer to qualifying for next year’s Paris Olympics after making the top group in the first round of the Longines FEI Nations Cup Final in Spain on Thursday.
The best eight teams of 15 nations that started over the Santiago Varela-designed course at the Real Club Real de Barcelona are slated to go on to Sunday’s deciding round. There is one berth for Paris available for the highest-placing team that like the U.S., has not otherwise qualified.
Brazil is a real threat, having finished second in the first round on 4 penalties, as it seeks its ticket to the 2024 Olympics. Mexico, which is also looking for a way to get to Paris, did not qualify for the Sunday round.
McLain Ward, the trailblazer for the U.S., aboard Callas, was the only one of the squad to put in a clear round. Karl Cook (Kalinka van’t Zorgvliet), Jessica Springsteen (Don Juan van de Donkhoeve) and Laura Kraut (Dorado 212) each had a rail. Allowing for one drop score, that gave the U.S. a total of 8 penalties to place sixth.
All teams will start on a clear slate Sunday. Great Britain, the only country with a score of zero penalties, was the leader in the first round.
No team from the Western Hemisphere has qualified as yet for Paris. They will have one last chance next month at the Pan American Games in Chile, where three teams can make the cut.