Canadian Showjumping Team Finish Outside Team Final Qualification.
Aug. 1, 2024, Paris, FRA - Show jumping got off to a disappointing start at Paris 2024 for the Canadian team with some uncharacteristic performances from two of Canada’s horse-rider combinations. With only three riders in the new Games format offering no drop score, the stakes were high for teams to qualify in the top ten. After watching the leaderboard change throughout the day, in the end, the Canadian team finished with a total score of 32 faults in 14th place, leaving them outside of the qualified group. Germany was the only nation of the day to post three clear rounds.
“As we all know in showjumping, there are so many variables and so the result is sometimes quite unpredictable,” said Chef D’Equipe and ten-time Olympian Ian Millar. “This was certainly not the result we predicted or prepared for. In my experience, the words excuses and sport do not go well together. We had three incredible horse-rider combinations on our team today and it just did not go our way.”
Photo Credit: Cara Grimshaw
A field of 60 starters representing a total of 20 nations came to the Games to vie for team glory. Canada, like many others, was here to chase a medal, and was confident in their chances in the team event. But as it happens in sport, it just wasn’t meant to be.
With another day of extremely hot and humid conditions in the arena overlooking the Chateau de Versailles, French course designer Grégory Bodo, laid down a track showcasing Parisien history, art and culture. The course offered a great deal of difficulty and plenty of opportunity for faults throughout the course. Time was not the main rival but the tackling of 14 obstacles with 17 jumping efforts at 1.65m in the time allowed of 79 seconds certainly was.
Mario Deslauriers and Emerson. Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley
First to go, was veteran of Team Canada, Mario Deslauriers, of Venise-en-Québec, QC in his fourth Olympic appearance. Deslauriers was partnered with his Pan American Games mount Emerson (Eldorado VD Zeshoek x Berlin), the 11-year-old Belgian warmblood gelding owned by Wishing Well LLC and groomed by Stefanie Walchuk. The pair have been together since 2021.
With a quick start on course, they took a rail down in the first element of the double French patisserie combination at 5a, then had an unfortunate fault at the water element at jump 9. Then they took an unlucky plank at 13b of the Paris Olympic triple combination. They finished on a score of 12 faults
The second and strongest round for Canada was Erynn Ballard, of Tottenham, ON, riding Nikka vd Bisschop, (Emerol NOP x Nabab de Reve) the 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by the Rein Family LLC and groomed by Clémence Rességuier.
Erynn Ballard and Nikka vd Bisschop. Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley
In her Olympic debut, Ballard and her very new partner had an unlucky rail at the Opera Garnier jump however this offered Ballard a very special Olympic moment that she will treasure.
“I gave myself an extra second when I went out there because there’s only so many times you get to experience first moments, especially in this sport. I only get my first round at the Olympics once, and that was it.” Ballard shared. “You can't tell somebody how that feels. When I looked around, I was like, this is amazing, this is what we have been waiting for our whole lives. And those 77 seconds were maybe the coolest 77 seconds of my entire life."
Amy Millar and Truman. Photo Credit: Cealy Tetley
In her second Olympic Games, the third Canadian through the ingate was Amy Millar of Perth, ON, aboard Truman (Mylord Carthago*HN x Kolibri), a 15-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Millar Brooke Farm LTD. & Overlund. The pair have been partnered for eight years and have been the go-to clear-round delivery crew and anchors of many championship-level teams.
Today’s course turned out to be void of luck for the duo. The double combination saw rails at both 5a and 5b. The Clock of Orsay jump at no. 8 with the sand-coloured top rail proved challenging and then they also had the unlucky plank come down at 13b. They ended the round on a score of 16 faults.
With the ability to make a change for the Individual competition, Chef D’Equipe Ian Millar indicated they would be considering a switch in the team to put Tiffany Foster and Figor into play. The team plans to evaluate the horses and make the final decision in the coming days.
Individual competition will begin Monday, August 5th at 14:00 Paris time with the Jumping Individual Qualifier.
For more information and full results, check out the Paris 2024 app.
Source: Equestrian Canada