August 18, 2004 – Athens, Greece – Following the three phases of competition in the equestrian discipline of eventing, the Canadian Eventing Team ended its Olympic bid in 12th position overall in Athens, Greece.

Canada was sitting in 12th position following the opening phase of dressage, dropped to 13th following Tuesday’s cross-country competition, and moved back into 12th on Wednesday following the third and final phase of dressage with a final score of 301.20 penalty points.

Germany took the Team Gold with a final score of 133.80, the French World Champion Team earned a Silver Medal with a score of 140.40 penalty points and Great Britain won Team Bronze with 143.00 penalty points. The United States narrowly missed out on claiming a Team medal, finishing fourth with a final score of 145.60.

In the individual placings, the leader board saw a significant shake-up. Germany’s Bettina Hoy posted a clear first round and had four faults in the second to take the Gold Medal riding Ringwood Cockatoo. Great Britain’s Leslie Law was one of only two riders to post double clear rounds. The impressive result catapulted him to the Silver Medal with Shear l’Eau. The Bronze Medal went to the United States, claimed by Kim Severson of Keene, Virginia, riding the 11-year-old English thoroughbred gelding, Winsome Adante. The leader right up until the final round, Nicolas Touzaint, 24, of France, incurred 19 penalties to fall to ninth place in the standings.

Mike Winter, 30, of Toronto, ON, was the top-placed Canadian rider in the Individual rankings, finishing in 40th overall. After incurring eight penalties in show jumping, Winter’s final score was 88.00 penalty points riding Balista.

“Balista is such a super horse,” praised Winter of the 14-year-old thoroughbred gelding owned by Emeline Loughlin. “He was difficult when I purchased him, but our goal when we bought him three years ago was to go to the next Olympics and I am very happy that I have been able to deliver! He’s a special horse for me, and my groom, Shannon, takes such good care of him.

“There are certain things I wish had gone better, but I am not disappointed in myself or in the team’s performance,” continued Winter, who was part of the Silver Medal effort at the 2003 Pan American Championships that qualified Canada for Athens. “Everyone put forth a good effort and Canada sent five horses and riders to Athens who were prepared and looked like they belonged here. Now we have to look towards the future, invest in ourselves, and start riding at a higher standard. Before, our goal was to finish a team and now that we have accomplished that, we have a good foundation to build on and become more competitive in the future.”

Bruce Mandeville of Summerland, BC, placed 41st overall in his second consecutive Olympic Games appearance riding Larissa, a 15-year-old Canadian-bred mare owned by breeders Franz and Elke Hollenbach. Mandeville finished with a final score of 89.20 penalty points after having three rails down for 12 penalties in the show jumping phase. Mandeville, 44, had been the highest-placed Canadian athlete following the cross-country phase where he jumped cleanly and incurred only 10.80 time penalties.

Garry Roque, 44, of Caledon East, ON, finished in 55th place with a final score of 124 penalty points. Riding Waikura, a 13-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding owned by Gustav Quast, Roque had three rails plus three time faults in the show jumping phase to move up four spots in the overall standings.

Winter, Mandeville and Roque’s scores were counted towards the final Team standings where the best three out of five team members’ scores are added together.

The top Canadian performer in the opening phase of dressage, Hawley Bennett, 27, of Langley, BC, finished 64th overall in her Olympic debut. Riding the 14-year-old Canadian thoroughbred gelding Livingstone, her partner of ten years, Bennett incurred 12 jumping penalties in show jumping phase to bring her three-day total to penalties.

Ian Roberts, 45, of Port Perry, ON, placed 67th with a final score of 229.60 penalty points riding Mata-riki, an 11-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding owned by his wife, Kelly Plitz.

In total, 75 horse-rider combinations contested the equestrian discipline of Eventing at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The next equestrian discipline to take center stage at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Center is Dressage, with the first Horse Inspection scheduled for Thursday, August 19. The opening phase of Grand Prix will be held over two days, Friday and Saturday, with Team medals being awarded at the conclusion. The Grand Prix Special will be held on Monday, August 23 with the Grand Prix Freestyle to Music on Wednesday, August 25, determining the Individual medals.

For complete results, please visit www.athens2004.com.