The final of the show jumping event in the Paris Olympics held on Tuesday saw UAE’s Omar Al Marzouqi complete his round.
Enjoy De La Mure 21-year-old finished the competition with eight faults and a total time of 83. 38 and ranked 19th of 30 riders.
Germany’s Christian Kukuk and his grey gelding Checker, performed stunningly in the Olympics to clinch the gold in the final jump-off phase amongst the trio.
Kukuk’s win that occurred after Siegfried Herrmann’s gold in individual events and Lars Kirchner and Inca’s gold in dressage as well as in the team dressage event affirmed Germany as the leading equestrian force.
Swiss Steve Guerdat clinched the second position and it was Dynamix de Belheme that he rode. Beauville Z with rider Maikel van der Vleuten of the Netherlands got the bronze.
Earlier in the day what came as a big surprise was the fall of Sweden’s showjumping world champion, and considered one of the favorites for the gold Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward.
The almost sixteen thousand catcher and occupants of the Versailles arena held their breaths when the gelding began to show signs of exhaustion through about half the course. Von Eckermann fell into the sand seconds later when the horse decided to stop.
The horse that is ranked as the highest ever in the world by analyst firm EquiRatings did not fall and although Von Eckermann limped out of the arena, nothing appeared to be seriously wrong.
The fifteen brightly painted labyrinths are similar in design to famous Paris landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower 1.65 meters (5. 41 ft), impressed a few riders and horses and significantly fewer clear rounds compared to Monday’s qualifier.
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As the hooves of all but three of the world’s finest jumping horses thumped wood at least once during their rides, anxious sighs and exasperated ‘aahs’ shaped the ambient commotion in the arena facing Louis XIV’s world-famous Palace.
“It’s a challenging track but it’s the Olympic final, that’s what we expect,”, defending Olympic champion Ben Maher from Britain said after he did not succeed to reach the jump-off.
“It just wasn’t meant to be today.”