DeRosa Daily Equestrian Olympic News
Horsesdaily Veteran Olympic Reporter Diana DeRosa Brings Us Into Her World

Let The Oympic Show Jumping Begin

Now that the Eventing is over we have a mixture of Dressage and Show Jumping taking place.  The past two days the Grand Prix Dressage was held but tonight started the excitement of show jumping, while the dressage riders had a break.  After having the unexpected take place in both the Dressage  and Eventing, I started to wonder what to expect in Show Jumping.  When McLain Ward as the first rider to go put in a clear round as smooth as silk it made me feel like we were on target.  Next came Laura Kraut and Cedric who knocked down just one rail. Will Simpson gave our team two clear rounds.  Finally anchor rider Beezie Madden made it three for three.  Not a bad way to start out.

When riders were competing I was watching the class but in between I was watching the crowd and the rider who just went.  After each round there were two things I was trying to capture with my lens.  If a rider erupted with emotion when they went clear,  I wanted that enthusiasm to be caught.  At the same time I was looking for flags in the audience.  It’s a tradition that many of the countries bring flags to wave and show their support.  Big flags, little flags, massive ones and some give it a funny twist. Unfortunately I never seemed to have much luck finding those American flags.  There were a few though throughout the week waving for the good ole USA.

There may not have been a lot of flags in the crowd but there was certainly tons of enthusiasm.  When a rail dropped or a rider went clear you either heard a dull moan or an enthusiastic uproar.  In addition to that there was always a group of supporters from each country who were sitting at the edge of their seats.  The man in front of me was cheering for the Dutch riders and you could see him jumping every fence trying his darndest to ensure they’d clear it.  When they did he leapt in the air, when they didn’t it was almost painful to watch his disappointment. 

Those people reminded me that we were at the Olympics and the world was there in front of us. 

Around the arena were the words Beijing 2008 and the Olympic circles but there was also a phrase you saw everywhere.  It is “One World One Dream.”  Think about that for a moment.  It doesn’t matter if you are black or white, rich or poor, or from the United States or Jamaice or China.  Everyone going into that arena has a chance to leave Hong Kong with a medal around his or her neck and we in the audience have the chance to say thank you for showing us how talented you are.  And tonight’s crowd was doing just that.

When Hong Kong’s very own Samantha Lam competed the crowd went wild.  In the end she had 3 rails down and 2 time faults but no matter.  Lam was “satisfied with my performance.  I made a good fight of it.”

She noticed the crowd erupt and commented.  “I am extremely proud to be here.  It’s exciting.  Everyone was supporting me.  It’s a happy atmosphere.”

Jamal Rahimov is here competing for Azerbaijan and he is the essence of the Olympic spirit.  It was his first time and he had only one time penalty.  After that he commented, “It is the dream of every Olympian to have a great start like this.  I’m more than happy.  Words are not enough to describe this.

These are all different examples of who can compete in an Olympic Games.  But there are more.  Laurie Lever from Australia is making her Olympic debut at 60.  “You get a nice horse.  You get a rush of blood to the head, and suddenly you are not as old as you think you are,” she commented.

Kamal Bahmdan is from Saudi Arabia.  After finishing his round with 11 penalty points he remarked.  “I just try to think of it like any other show, but with a bigger name.”

Beezie Madden when interviewed made it clear that this team wants to duplicate the Gold Medal the U.S. received at the Athens Olympic Games even though “it’s a hard battle.”

Canada’s Ian Millar is competing in his ninth Olympic Games and plans to go to London in 2012 as well on a horse he has called Redefin.  His thoughts about his ninth time, “It’s the same rush, same excitement and same everything.”

More Show Jumping to Come