Irish showjumpers will NOT be going to the Olympics after stewarding farce

Appeal rejected.

Cian O'Connor has been left "totally gutted" after the Irish showjumping team's Olympics qualification hopes were spoiled, then dashed. On Friday, during the European Championships in Aachen, an arena worker ran in front of Cian O'Connor's horse "Good Luck", and jumped into a nearby flowerbed, in the middle of his run. This affected O'Connor's concentration and caused him to make four faults - he knocked the next fence down. Ireland then finished just outside Olympic qualification, missing out by just 0.380 of a penalty. The decision to penalise O'Connor was immediately brought to the ground jury but Ireland's case was dismissed. Irish equestrian chiefs appealed the final result, last night, but that appeal has been rejected. Had O'Connor completed a clear round, the London 2012 bronze medallist would have helped clinch a place at Rio 2016. That view was strengthened as fourth team member Denis Lynch then had a clear round. On his Facebook page, today, O'Connor wrote: 'Totally gutted following yesterday's final team round at the European Championships in Aachen. As the matter is sub judice, I will not comment on the incident at this time.' Ireland's only remaining hope is to appeal, next, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.