The results from the Showjumping qualifying round are carried forward into the Individual competition and also decide the starting order of nations in the Team competition. The team event runs over two days (Tuesday and Wednesday), with the team medals decided after the second day, after which the top thirty-five combinations go forward to contest Friday’s Individual final.

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Nick Skelton made a record seventh Olympic Games appearance and ride Big Star who was his gold medal winning horse at London 2012. The pair produced some great jumping all the way round the huge 1.60m course and in a quick time but were unlucky to have the last fence down, which resulted them finishing on four penalties.

“I think if you’re going to have a jump down then today is the day to do it,” said Nick, “I’m pleased with him. If he jumps two clears in the team competition, which he can do, we’ll be very pleased.”

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Ben Maher & Tic Tac were next into the arena.With a huge scope over some really tricky fences, the combination were unfortunate to have a pole down at fence nine to incur four penalties.

Ben commented afterwards; “I thought my horse jumped well, he had plenty of height and used his body well. They said he hesitated on the TV, but I think I overcorrected him and it just took a bit of his jump away, but I got him home down the last line which has been causing some quite dramatic scenes today.”

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Michael Whitaker & Cassionato, this was Michael’s fifth Olympic appearance and the duo produced a lovely round, but unlucky for Michael after sailing over fence ten, Cassionato just nudged the top of the pole on the way down which resulted in 4 penalties.  

Michael said; “He jumped unbelievably. The one fence he couldn’t touch he touched – if you watch it back, he gives it plenty of room but just touches it at the end. Everything else went exactly as it should have done.

“I wasn’t expecting it (today’s course) to be as tough as it was to be honest, I thought it would be a nice 1.50m, but it’s full-blown like a grand prix course actually, so it’s tough.”

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John Whitaker & Ornellaia last to enter the ring for Team GB, John rode beautifully and the pair produced the first Clear Round for GB!

Commenting afterwards he said; “I was very happy with the round, from start to finish it was good. The second to last fence, the double, has been causing problems and I was a bit worried because she hasn’t got that much experience at this level, but everything went to plan – she felt fresh, she was listening, she was jumping, nice to get the first day behind us. It gives us confidence for the rest of the week.”

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Olympic Showjumping Facts

• Jumping tests horse/rider combinations ability to jump a series of obstacles order in an enclosed arena. The jumps, known as fences, are numbered and jumped in a set order. The fences can be knocked down, and test an athlete’s accuracy and the horse’s athleticism

• FENCES – maximum 1.60 metre in height and 2 metres in width. A triple bar – a sloping fence with three poles – can be a maximum of 2.20 metres in width. The maximum width of a water jump is 4.5 metres

• The fences can be uprights, such as walls, gates, planks or poles; spreads; and water. They can be single fences, double (two fences jumped immediately after each other) and triple (three fences jumped immediately after each other) combinations.

• CLEAR ROUND – The aim is to jump a clear round, which means not knocking any of the fences, refusing a fence or putting a foot in the water, at the first attempt and within a set time

• PENALTIES – Four penalties are given for each obstacle knocked down, and for each fence that the horse refuses. Two refusals during the course means elimination. One (1) time fault is awarded for every four seconds over the time allowed

• If a horse or rider falls they are automatically eliminated

• COMPETITIONS – The first competition is one round of jumping with no jump-off against the clock. The second competition is run over two days – a qualifying round and a final round – over different courses, with the first day open to all, and the second open to the top eight teams

• If the scores for any of the medal placings are equal, teams will jump a shorter course against the clock and if there is still a tie, the times of the best three athletes per team are added together to decide the winning team. There is also the possibility of a jump- off for the bronze medal and this will take place before the jump-off for gold

• The first round of the individual final is open to the top 35 horse/rider combinations after the first three days of competition. All participants start the individual final on zero (0) penalties. The top 20 from this round then go through to the final round to decide the individual medals, with the horse/rider on the lowest score winning gold

• JUMP-OFF – If there is more than one clear round, finishing places are decided by a jump-off against the clock. If jumping penalties are the same over a shortened course, then the fastest time wins.