2000 Olympic Games - Sydney, Australia

Favourites Trail in Slippery Show Jumping

-- 25 September 2000 - Sydney, Australia

The gold medal favourites got off to a disappointing start in Monday's first qualifying round for the show jumping final, as a rank outsider rode a near perfect round to share the lead. Riders were very critical of the show jumping surface, saying it was too slippery after heavy rain, and also said the near two-month lay-off from competition as a result of Australian quarantine requirements also affected some horse and rider combinations.

New Zealand's Bruce Goodin - rated outside the top 50 jumpers - and the Netherland's Jeroen Dubbeldam both had clean jumping rounds, incurring 0.50 penalty points each for exceeding the course time limit by less than two seconds, to lead the field.

Germany's Ludger Beerbaum, the gold medallist from Barcelona, was in third place on 1.25 penalty points, with Argentinian Martin Dopazo fourth on 2.25 penalties.

The top four were the only riders to make it through without knocking down any rails. However the competition is close, with the top 21 riders having only 8.0 penalties or less.

The fact it was a qualifying round reduced the urgency for riders to complete the course quickly, but the sight of the first horse and rider falling on the course and the slippery ground also contributed to the slow times.

"Imagine if this was a championship today, and we had a speed class where you had to go fast on the first day, I think we would have seen a catastrophe," Beerbaum said.

The highly fancied Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil ended the first round in 11th position on 5.00 penalties, while Atlanta silver medallist Willi Melliger of the Netherlands was well back in 57th position after incurring 18 penalties.

"I'm not very happy," Melliger said. "I hope my horse will improve and I hope to qualify for the final."

Pessoa said he was not too concerned because if he finished in the top 45 after three rounds he would qualify for the final, where scores are reset.

"It's a funny competition because it counts, but it doesn't really count, and you have to go out and do the best you can but you're not really into the competition yet, you're not 100 percent motivated because it doesn't count for anything," he said.All 74 riders will participate in the second and third rounds on Thursday - which will also decide the team event medallists.

Image by Dirk Caremans

Source Text: ® Olympics.com / SOCOG

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