Ireland and Cian O’Connor lose appeal and will miss Rio Olympics

It was perhaps always a long shot but it's still hugely disappointing news.

Ireland's showjumping team will not be participating at this year's Olympic Games after Horse Sport Ireland and Cian O'Connor failed in an appeal to the Court of Arbritation for Sport. The case surrounded Ireland's failure to make the cut at the final Olympic qualifying event in Germany last August, the FEI European Championships, when a member of the groundstaff ran out and interrupted O'Connor's potential clear round, causing Ireland to miss out on the Games. An initial appeal to the International Equestrian Federation failed but the Irish team launched a second appeal to CAS, who handed down their verdict this morning. It read:  "The appeal filed on 11 September 2015 by Horse Sport Ireland and Cian O’Connor against the decision rendered by the FEI Appeal Committee on 22 August 2015 is dismissed and the FEI decision is confirmed. "The arbitration concerned a protest lodged by Horse Sport Ireland and Cian O’Connor following an incident during the team final at the FEI European Jumping Championships held in Aachen, Germany in August 2015, which counted as final qualifying event for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. "The incident involved a member of the ground staff during O’Connor’s round. The FEI Appeal Committee’s decision of 22 August 2015 confirmed an earlier decision taken by the Ground Jury at the Aachen championships in which the protest lodged by the Irish team was dismissed and a ruling was given that the results obtained on the course that day would stand."