ShowBiz Feature
n a humid night in Hong
O
Kong, Will Simpson and the
United States Show Jumping
Team’s dreams came true. After three
rounds of testing competition, it all
came together under the bright stadium
lights at the Shatin Equestrian Venue.
Perhaps the most exciting and notable performances was Will’s last round in the Team
Final jump off. He and his mount, Carlsson Vom Dach, among the talented field of Inter-
national riders they were competing against, clinched the Team GOLD for the USA.
Olympic veterans Beezie Madden, on Authentic, and McLain Ward, on Sapphire, an-
chored the United States’ team, while Laura Kraut, and her mount Cedric, joined Will to
round out the team. Though both Laura and Will are successful International riders and
have been on the circuit for years, each had a relatively green horse which made riding in the
Olympics a bit more challenging. Will did an excellent job of controlling the fiery Carlsson
for their Olympic debu, while Cedric overcame his inexperience and also jumped like a star
throughout.
Over courses designed by Leopoldo Palacios and Steve Stephens, the real competition
began in Team round one, where only four of the 77 riders competing managed to go clear.
The highly-touted German team failed to live up to their usual precedence, with Team
members pulling a handful of rails, thus giving them a total of 20 faults. The USA Team
was led by McLain and his effervescent mare, Sapphire, who claimed one of those four
clear rounds. At the end of this round, the USA was tied for first with Switzerland, each
team sitting on 12 faults.
Round two shaped up to be one of the most exciting Finals in recent show jumping his-
tory. McLain, Laura, and Will had clear rounds and Beezie kept all the jumps up but had
three time faults, which meant that the US team would retain its position in first place. Will
and Carlsson were absolutely on fire, simply popping over the jumps and gliding around
the course. The fact that Will was able to finesse his hot mount
Wrap Up
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