Great Britain finished with a Team Silver medal in the final phase of the eventing competition today after a closely fought contest saw Germany take the Gold and New Zealand the Bronze.
After clear rounds from William Fox-Pitt and Mary King, and only a single pole lowered by Nicola and Zara; Tina went into the arena knowing that she needed to produce a clear round to secure the team silver.
Commenting on the team result, Tina said: “Oh my goodness, it was so close. Gold would have been brilliant but silver is absolutely fantastic. Henry [Miners Frolic] was very ill last year and it’s been almost like a fairytale. The team result is brilliant for equestrianism and it’s great for the sport.”
Mary commented after winning team silver; “Archie [Imperial Cavalier] was a really good boy today, you just do what you have to do on the day and I was thrilled to bits with how we did; and the first jumping round [the team round] today was my first clear round at an Olympic Games.”
After the competition Zara commented on her performance today with High Kingdom and what it felt like winning team silver; “He jumped fantastically today and I’m really chuffed to bits with him. It is huge to get an Olympic medal, especially as we were up against some really tough competition. The whole week has been an amazing experience and the crowd have been unreal.”
Placing fourth and fifth after the first jumping round, both Mary and Tina unfortunately finished outside the medals, 5th and 6th respectively, after knocking two poles down a piece in the second round, whilst Zara, produced a great clear round inside the time to finish 8th overall.
Final results
Team competition: Gold – Germany, Silver - Great Britain, Bronze - New Zealand
Individual competition: Gold - Michael Jung (Germany), Silver - Sara Algotsson Ostholt (Sweden), Bronze - Sandra Auffarth (Germany)