Merveldt will rise to Olympic challenge
That is not to say the 49-year-old would travel without hope, though, a realistic aspiration would be that she live up to the Games’ ethos of being the best that she can be.
It emerged last weekend that Merveldt had secured an Olympic place for Ireland and, while it is up to Horse Sport Ireland to nominate who goes to London, it is hard to see beyond Merveldt. She had been second on the reserve list, which proved sufficient as Colombia can, at most, take up just one of the three places it earned as bronze medallist at the Pan American Games in Mexico, last October.
The Canadian-born, Naas-reared rider has shown that improvement is still possible, having achieved an Irish best score of 75.72% in Vienna, Austria last November, but she was taking a realistic view yesterday.
“You never know how things will go, but I think London will be good fun. The standard is huge at the moment and I would not be expecting a medal, we’ll just see how far we can get. I would be very happy if I could replicate my 11th in Barcelona in 1992,” she said, interjecting with a laugh and, as she considered this, she qualified her wish by adding “we would need a lot of luck on our side”.
Fifty competitors will start the competition in London in August, with 32 going forward to the grand prix special and the cream of 18 making the kur, which will decide the individual medals.
“It will be extremely hard to get to the final, the kur, so I am aiming for the grand prix special.” said Merveldt, whose bid to make the Olympics was interrupted by a car accident in November that resulted in a broken rib and a couple of weeks on the sidelines.
While it has been 20 years since her last Olympics, she did fly the flag in last August’s European Championships, in Rotterdam, but she failed to be among the final 30 riders.
“The European were disappointing, in that I did not reach my usual standard, but you have good and bad days. Fortunately, the latter are rare,” said Merveldt, who spent 25 years in Germany, before relocating to outside Milan in Italy in 2007.
Last weekend, she rode her 16-year-old gelding to seventh place in the grand prix special at the four-star Fritzens-Schndlhof, Austria, and she says that his age ensures his dependability.
“The horse is going well. He is well experienced. He’s been there and done that. He won’t be phased by anything in the Olympics.”
lPony eventing high-performance coach Sue Shortt is expecting good things from her squad in this year’s European Championships in Fontainebleau, France on July 17–22.
Last year, her charges came away with team silver and an individual bronze and this time she said: “We have selected six combinations that are hugely talented and are very capable of finishing in the top 15 individually at the championships.”
Shortt has selected Cork’s recent Tattersalls winner Gavin Smiddy (Mr Hale Bob) along with runner-up Lucy Latta (Nono) and third-placed Ana O’Brien (Ice Cool Bailey). Susie Berry (Jylland, Quiverhill Remember Me), Kirsty Connell (Little Indian Feather) and Cathal Daniels (Master Murrose) also get the nod.
“Three of the riders were selected in our performance-based selection system, while the other three riders were given wildcards. I am very happy with the way it worked out and the selection system should help to prepare the riders better to deal with the pressures involved in competing at the championships,” said Shortt.
The two non-travelling reserves will be selected after Monart on June 24.
lSaudi Arabian show jumpers Khaled Abdulaziz Al Eid and Abdullah Waleed Sharbatly can ride in the Olympics, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) “partially upheld” their appeals and reduced their eight-month suspensions to two months.
The initial punishment had been imposed by the Federation Equestre Internationale Tribunal after their horses had tested positive for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs phenylbutazone and oxyphenbutazone — a metabolite of phenylbutazone, commonly referred to as bute. Both are “controlled medications”, meaning their use is permitted outside of competition.
Al Eid’s mount Vanhoeve tested positive at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia (Nov-30 to Dec 3), while Al Sharbatly’s Lobster 43 was tested at Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates in February.
Saudi Arabia has invested millions of euro in its bid for Olympic glory and Al Eid won bronze in Sydney.
At the request of the riders and with the consent of the FEI, the two appeals were adjudicated by Graeme Mew of Canada and were expedited in light of the Olympics.
Mr Mew’s decision to cut the suspensions to two months, which have already been served after the riders voluntarily stood down, came as he considered “the infraction was of minor importance”.
Khaled Al Eid is already qualified for the Olympics with Presley Boy, but Abdullah Sharbatly has until Sunday to book his place on Sultan V.
