No medal joy for Irish show jumpers in Versailles
The Coyle During Mccarthy/sportsfile Individual Daniel Jumping No Of Riding Ireland Final Team Legacy Pic: Stephen In Action Joy:
Ireland’s hopes of claiming an eighth medal at Paris 2024 came to naught on Tuesday morning as Daniel Coyle and Shane Sweetnam failed to produce the clean round needed.
The pair had qualified third and second best in the show jumping individual event and so had a superbly panoramic view of the state of play after the bones of the 28-strong field had already played their part.
Only three riders and horses had produced clear rounds by then. Do the same and they would enter a jump-off for the medals, but Coyle dropped four fences in a row mid-round and pulled Legacy from the scene soon after.
Sweetnam’s James Cruz Kann clipped the last bar at the double jump, fence 5b as it’s officially known. More than a few before them had found the same obstacle their downfall and two more faults before the end were immaterial after that.
A disappointing end to a week that promised so much with a world-class Irish team of Sweetnam, Coyle and Cian O’Connor only finishing seventh in their final.
Not the first time Ireland’s Olympic show jumpers have hit the bar.