Above: Daniel Meech and Cinca 3. Photo credit: Libby Law Photography.

With 19 medals in the bag after the first 13 days of competition, a record total medal tally for New Zealand, hopes were high last night that the Equestrian Jumping team could qualify for the final and potentially add to this tally. It had been 13 years since we had a jumping team at the Olympics and our best-ever finish in the event was tenth place, fittingly at Tokyo in 1964, which was when we first sent a jumping team.

Up against 18 of the best jumping nations in the world, it was going to be a tall order and with so few team competition opportunities in the lead-up to these Games the medal positions were probably more open than ever. However, if the Division 1 Nations Cups that took place last month are anything to go by, then the on-form countries are Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and The Netherlands.

Team France were the defending champions having clinched gold for only the second time in Olympic history at the Rio 2016 Games, although Penelope Leprevost is the only member of that victorious team to line up again at Tokyo 2020. Silver went to the USA five years ago and Germany, who have won eight team titles since Jumping joined the Olympic program in 1900, won out in a thrilling jump-off against Canada for the bronze.

Other teams to look out for include The British who have two of the team that secured Olympic gold for them for the first time in 60 years in London in 2012, in Scott Brash and the Individual Competition gold Medalist from two nights ago, Ben Maher riding his super horse Explosion W. Also, we have the team from the United States who were winners at WEG 2018, The Belgians who were the 2019 European Champions and The Irish, The FEI Jumping Nations Cup Winners.

The real wild card in this event was always going to be the three riders per team change, which means no drop score so every ride round counts.

New Zealand were drawn at number 8 in the order and the first team member out was Bruce Goodin and Backatorps Danny V. Goodin, in this his 5th Olympic Games and the 13-year-old Bay gelding attacked a course which had already seen several combinations struggle, but taking four rails and a single time penalty saw them finish on 17 faults, which was the highest score of the eight combinations who had so-far completed the course.

Bruce Goodin and Backatorps Danny V. Photo credit: Libby Law Photography

After each country had sent out their first combination, there was a 2-way tie in the lead, with Sweden and Brazil having completed clear rounds, while Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France and Mexico had all recorded just a single time penalty. New Zealand were in 18th place, only ahead of Ireland who had their first combination eliminated due to a fall.

Next to ride for New Zealand were Tom Tarver and Popeye. For Tarver this was his first Olympic experience and he arrived in the competition via a round-about route. Originally named as the team’s non-travelling reserve, he was asked to travel to Tokyo as the team reserve when Sharn Wordley’s horse was injured and they had to withdraw. Tarver and Popeye did not compete in the Individual competition, however, the decision was made to insert them into the New Zealand team at the expense of Uma O’Neill and Clockwise of Greenhill Z. Tarver and Popeye had a great first half of their round, however, struggled in the middle taking three rails in a row. This slowed them down a little and they finished with 13 faults, taking Team New Zealand to a total of 30 faults.

Tom Tarver and Popeye. Photo credit: Libby Law Photography.

After each country had had the opportunity to send two combinations out on the course, Sweden, with two clear rounds were leading, ahead of Switzerland on a total of 1 and Belgium on 2. New Zealand were up to 14th place, ahead of the Czech Republic and four other countries who had a combination eliminated.

With only the top 10 teams being invited into tonight’s medal round, the pressure was right on our third combination, the Individual competition finalists, Daniel Meech and Cinca 3. Meech and Cinca 3 rose to the occasion admirably, however, just two rails and, like his compatriots before him, a single time fault, gave them a total of nine and the New Zealand team a total of 39.

Daniel Meech and Cinca 3. Photo credit: Libby Law Photography.

This meant that while we were currently sitting in the top 10, only a number of disastrous rounds from the remaining countries’ third combinations would have allowed us to stay there. Any pressure these top nations were feeling did not show and one-by-one we slipped down the rankings until the end when we finished in 14th place. Argentina were placed in 10th, on 27 faults and so to have bridged this gap and have qualified for the final, we needed to have taken three less rails than the total of nine that we did.

Sweden were the stars of the night. Three clear rounds here on top of their three representatives recording double clear to finish second, fourth and fifth in the individual final mean that they are in white hot form and while be hard to beat tonight. Belgium and Germany finished in equal second place each on a total of four faults, which consisted solely of time faults. Qualifying for the final without a rail also means that they are great chances as some of their combinations seemed to cruise around the course with little regard to beating the time. All 10 teams going into tonight’s final will start on an equal footing of zero faults.

As for New Zealand, it was a solid performance, but not doubt the riders will be disappointed with their finishing position. The good news is that in exactly one year’s time, the 2022 World Championships will be on at Herning in Denmark and the Paris Olympics are now less than three years away. The countries represented in tonight’s final are listed below.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Jumping Team Qualification – Final Qualifiers and New Zealand