Eric Lamaze and Hickstead lead the Canadian Show Jumping Team at the 2008 Olympic Games. Photo by Cealy Tetley, www.tetleyphoto.com

August 17, 2008 – Hong Kong, China – Canada is tied for fourth position following the first of two rounds of team show jumping competition held Sunday, August 17, at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong, China.

In an extremely close race, Switzerland and the United States are tied for first place with 12 faults, Sweden is third with 13 faults, and Canada and Great Britain are tied for fourth place with 16 faults. The Netherlands and Norway are tied for sixth with 17 faults, while Australia and Germany are tied for eighth with 20 faults. Only the best eight teams from the original 16-nation starting field move forward to Monday’s second and final round. Team medals will be awarded at the conclusion of competition.

Eric Lamaze, 40, of Schomberg, ON, produced a faultless round for Canada riding Hickstead, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Torrey Pines Stables and Ashland Stables. His performance put the Canadian Team back on track after Mac Cone, 55, of King City, ON, incurred 12 faults riding Ole and Jill Henselwood, 45, of Oxford Mills, ON, had 18 faults with Special Ed. As the anchor rider, Ian Millar, 61, of Perth, ON, had only fence number 12 down to incur four faults riding In Style, a 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Susan Grange of Lothlorien Farm. Counting the three best scores from Cone, Lamaze and Millar, the Canadian Team concluded the first round with a total of 16 faults.

“I promise you it will be cleaned up for the next round; I give you my word,” said Millar, who is making a record-tying ninth Olympic appearance. “That is the drama of the Nations’ Cup (team competition) - the wheels can fall off so fast for any team. But Mac and Jill are hard-core riders and they won’t let this happen again tomorrow, and Eric will be clean and I’ll be clean and we’ll see you on the podium!”

With a clear round, Lamaze is currently tied for first place with McLain Ward of the United States in the individual standings with a perfect score of zero. Defending Olympic Champion Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil is third while Ireland’s Denis Lynch, current World Champion Jos Lansink of Belgium, and Tony Andre Hansen of Norway are tied for fourth position.

“There are many good horses and riders here, but Hickstead is very consistent,” said Lamaze, who is currently ranked the number three rider in the world. “He has lots of energy and energy translates into power.”

On turning in a flawless performance for the Canadian Team, Lamaze noted, “As the first two riders had trouble, there was no more room for mistakes. Hickstead is such a good horse to be in that situation with. He’s reliable.”

Individually, Millar is ranked 16th, Cone is 30th and Henselwood is 44th. Following the second round of team competition, the top 35 individuals move forward to the Individual Final on Thursday, August 21. All riders then start from scratch. Following the first round, the top 20 move forward to the second round, and any ties are then broken by a jump-off before Individual Medals are awarded.

For more information, including live results, please visit www.fei.org/olympics.