Hannah, Jessie, and Buck
Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti won individual gold at the Pan American Games for Canada with a fantastic double-clear ride in the individual show jumping round. 43.9 in the dressage, two seconds under the optimum time on the cross-country, two double-clears today–it was a truly brilliant gold medal performance. Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot jumped double-clear as did Buck and Absolute Liberty. They moved up to silver and bronze position respectively when Michael Pollard and Hanni pulled two rails.
For the win:
Pan American Games Individual Results:
1. Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti (CAN) +0 43.9
2. Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot (USA) +0 45.2
3. Buck Davidson and Absolute Liberty (USA) +0 48.9
4. Michael Pollard and Hanni (USA) +8 52.5
5. Elena Ceballo and Nounours Du Moulin (VEN) +0 56.9
6. Rebecca Howard and Roquefort (CAN) +0 62.9
7. James Atkinson and Gustav (CAN) +0 65.7
When the US and Canadian riders entered the arena for the individual show jumping round, they did so knowing that they already had won gold and silver team medals respectively. All of the US pairs had jumped double-clear in the team round, and Jessie had also jumped clear. The top three riders from each nation came back for the individual jumping round. It’s absurd that Lynn, Shannon, Hawley, and Selena are not part of the individual results because they all would have finished in the top 15. James Atkinson and Rebecca Howard both had individual show jumping rides that were much improved from their team rounds.
I feel really bad for Hanni and Michael Pollard. Hanni usually has brilliant show jumping performances, but today just wasn’t their day and they slid to 4th place. Michael will take home a gold medal for his contribution to the US Team and there’s no doubt in my mind that this is the first of many times Michael will represent the US on an international team.
Jessie said that the first course was a little more “flowing” and the second course had more severe turns that they had to ride aggressively through. In the press conference following the show jumping all of the riders said that they felt more pressure in the team competition than in the individual round.
Buck stressed that the US team came here with one goal–team gold. He said that he felt for Michael and mentioned that he almost felt guilty winning bronze, but emphasized that team gold was this weekend’s true achievement. The riders all thanked their support team and also their owners–Sharon Will (Absolute Liberty), Ms. Mars (Harbour Pilot), and Don Good (Pavarotti).
I want to thank everyone for joining our live blog of the show jumping. We fought through a bad internet connection and had over 2,000 readers. A bunch of great friends joined us including Karen, who chimed in to say “Way to go all three medal winners. Passing it to Pavarotti from Teddy!” The Pan Am individual gold is moving from one classy champion to another.
Go eventing.
