EN would like to thank Austin Ligon for sharing his account of the CCI*** in Italy this weekend. Since I’m not even sure where Montelibretti is, and I struggled mightily trying to navigate the Italian corner of the internet searching for scores, this first-hand report is much appreciated! Thanks, Austin, and congratulations to Nina for accomplishing her goal of making the list to London! Click to read reports from Day 1 and Day 2.
Montelibretti CCI*** winner Karin Donckers and Charizard
So, here’s how it all came out at the Montelibretti CCI***:
The last day was a great reminder that when the pressure is REALLY on, show jumping, even on a seemingly “friendly” course, can become a gut-wrenching endeavor.
With 26 of the original 37 riders left in the field for showjumping, things got off to a pretty smooth start… from the bottom, the first 5 riders had 3 clear rounds, with two more of one rail each….and no time penalties all round. It looked like it would be a pretty easy, pro forma day of most folks holding score.
But as we got into the top half of the order, where many were in shooting distance of. “Make or Break” Olympic qualification, things got much tougher.
After Alex Hua Tian of China went clear in position 16, there were only 4 more clear rounds for the day. Two of them belonged to the tough and incredible Vittoria Panizzon, who went clear on Rock Model and almost stratospherically clear on Burrough Pennyz. After the dust had cleared from the carnage of the others, Vittoria had moved from her post-dressage positions of #18 and #21 to a final 3rd and 5th. This moved her from well down the Olympic “wait list” to a secure Olympic slot. Indeed, after adding 122 Olympic qualifying points on the final day, she ended up with a total of 243 points, which secures for her the Southern European “Reserve Spot”, and makes her the top scoring non-Australian among ALL the individual competitors. As the top-finishing Italian and a member of the Italian Air Force, she also received enthusiastic congratulations from all the many Generals on hand for the ceremony.
Final scores: http://www.fiselazio.com/
Italy’s own Vittoria Panizzon and Borough Pennyz finished 3rd
The other two clear rounds belonged to Karin Donckers and Merel Blom. Donckers on Charizard exploited a three-rail performance by Andrew Hoy to knock him in to second, and take the huge silver cup presented by an absolute bevy of Italian Generals….the Top Brass came out big-time on the final day (see picture).
Merel Blom’s clear round on Rumour Has It gained her 4th place overall, put her second on the Olympic individual “open 9” qualifying list and secured a team slot for the Dutch (3 person composite team) for the first time in decades.
As an aside, I asked Merel afterwards how she managed to make the critical November trip all the way from Holland to Temecula that gave her a big points boost. “It was simple….Galway was my only chance, I felt good about it, so I sold a horse to make the trip”….which, if you have seen Merel ride, reflects her gutsy approach to eventing generally.
Unfortunately, my favorite, Lukasz Kazmierczak took four rails, as did Denmark’s Peter Flarup, while Portugal’s Manuel Grave took three. This knocked all three of them out of Olympic slots and well down the wait list. And Italy’s Stefano Brecciaroli, riding his new acquisition Oplitas (from Andrew Nicholson), took four rails himself, slipping to 9th place, still enough to put him 5th on the “open 9” Olympic list.
Italy fell short of it’s goal to secure the three individual spots required to form a composite Olympic team. But Italy’s Marco Biasia, epitomizing the “Never Say Die” attitude, moved up from his 25th place start after dressage to take 10th, enough to put him reasonably high on the Olympic wait list with 178 points, and preserving the hope that a team might still materialize for the Italians.
Finally, Alex Hua Tian’s clear round left him just short of the point cut-off, moving up from 16th to 11th. So he also will join the wait list.
Since all the Hubbub in February was caused by the race for individual points, I should tell you how I think it came out, although it won’t be official until the FEI announcement on March 1. Here’s my unofficial count of who gets the 20 individual slots:
REGIONAL RESERVED SLOTS-
A) North America: Samantha Albert, Jamaica
B) South America: Ronald Zabala G., Ecuador leads (final result depends on Campo de Mayo)
C) Northern Europe: Raf Kooremans, Netherlands
D) Southern Europe: Vittoria Pannizon, Italy
E) Eastern Europe, Alena Tseliapushkina, Belorussia
F) Africa/Middle East: Mandy Mason, South Africa
G) Asia/Oceania: Clayton Fredericks, Australia
INDIVIDUAL SLOTS:
9) Emma Scott, AUS, 259
10) Shane Rose, Aus, 258
11) Nat Blundell, AUS, 256
12) Elaine Pen, NED, 232
13) Merel Blom, NED, 231
14) Nina Ligon, THA, 228
15) Stef Brecciaroli, ITA, 219
16) Camilla Speirs, IRL, 215
17) Harald Ambros, AUT, 208
18) Mark Kyle, IRL, 207
19) M. Nastenko, RUS, 203
20) Michael Ryan, IRL, 202
Michael Ryan’s spot at number 20 is dependent on the outcome of Vladikavkaz CIC*** in Russia on Sunday, where, Alexandr Faminou of Belarus may pass him up.
About 10 more riders are on the “wait list,” spread between 155 and 201 points; they will get spots only of other riders drop out, or teams (such as Argentina) fail to qualify a full team.
Best,
Austin Ligon
