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Horseracing

21st Aug 2015

Steward jumps out in front of Cian O’Connor and may have cost Ireland Olympic qualification

Unbelievable scenes

Ben Kiely

Team Ireland’s Olympic qualification is in jeopardy following a bizarre incident at European Showjumping Championships in Aachen.

There were mental scenes in Germany today when a steward may have cost Ireland a spot in the Olympic showjumping event in 2016.

The arena workers ran in front of Cian O’Connor’s horse “Good Luck” in the middle of a run. This affected O’Connor’s concentration and caused him to make four faults which has hindered Ireland’s chances of qualifying for the Olympics.

Ireland finished just outside Olympic qualification, missing out by just .4 of a penalty. This means that unless there is an inquiry the team will not be jumping at next year’s Games.

As Irish showjumping commentator Brendan McArdle reported, the initial appeal from Team Ireland was rejected, but another one is expected to take place.

https://twitter.com/TeamIRLEq/status/634774311098839041