OCI gives showjumping mild rebuke

THE Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) yesterday said it was “not particularly happy” that show jumping had become involved in controversy again, but said the sport was not alone in gaining headlines for the wrong reasons.

As is well documented, Denis Lynch had his Olympic nomination dramatically withdrawn on Monday by Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) after his horse Lantinus was disqualified from Aachen in Germany last Friday for failing a hypersensitivity test on its legs. It was the third horse ridden by the Tipperary man to do so in the past 12 months.

However, an OCI spokesman yesterday pointed out it was not unusual for disputes to arise in the run-up to the Olympics.