Ellen Whitaker qualifies for the 2008 Olympics British Show Jumping Team
The British Show Jumping Team claimed the Bronze Medal and more importantly, qualification for the 2008 Olympics at the European Show Jumping Championships in
The gold medal went to the
The results were particularly significant because the British Team failed to qualify for the 2004 Olympics which resulted in overall funding for Show Jumping being cut. The team hope that their results will help to raise the profile of show jumping in
This year’s winning British squad were Michael Whitaker riding Suncal Portofino, John Whitaker riding Peppermill, Ellen Whitaker on AK Locarno and David McPherson on Pilgrim II. Both Ellen Whitaker and David McPherson rode superbly on their team debuts.
At only 21, Ellen was one of the youngest riders at the Championships but she was more than equal to the task, jumping with great style and rhythm. Her performance on
The course was unusual and complicated with very different fences, designed to test both horse and riders’ bravery, ability and care. The twisting track, designed by course designer Christa Jung, contained four alternatives and although the distances between the jumps were more than adequate, they were on curving lines which made the course very demanding. The jumps, containing colourful guitars, musical notes and bicycle wheels were also visually challenging for the horses. Thankfully, the British horses proved themselves to be more than up for the task.
While the main Olympic Games will be held in
Hong Kong expect around 300 horses to arrive from
With the form our British Show Jumping Team have shown individually and together, perhaps we can look forward to show jumping being the rowing equivalent of the 2008 Olympics!