Irish eyes smiling after O'Connor win

Cian O’Connor made Irish eyes smile all over Athens last night after clinching Ireland’s first gold medal of the Olympics on his Games debut, but then revealed he could lose the horse he won it on.

The 25-year-old was a shock winner in the individual show jumping event on an electric night of competition at the Markopoulo Stadium.

The Kildare-born rider carried over four penalties from his first round but then produced a dazzling clear round on Waterford Crystal in the second final round to claim the top prize.

It was a glorious night for Ireland and O’Connor, who admitted he could not have expected a golden performance in his first Olympics.

However O’Connor – who now lives in Dublin – revealed he will be rushing to make a few calls to WaterfordCrystal’s owner as the 13-year-old gelding is due to be sold after the Olympics.

“I’m absolutely delighted. I never expected it. I was an underdog going into the final but my horse really gave me his all and jumped class,” said O’Connor.

“I’m extremely lucky to have found this horse. I do a lot of horse dealing and I bought this horse and secured sponsorship until the Olympic Games.

“But in fact the horse is supposed to be sold after the Games because my contract was only until this point so I’ll have to talk with my owner and see what we can do.

“I do quite a lot of horse dealing and I buy a lot of horses from Dietmar Gugler in Germany. He found the horse for me four years ago when he was jumping nationally in Germany.”

O’Connor said his victory – the first Irish Olympic gold since Michael Carruth won one in boxing in 1992 – would be well received back home.

“I’d say there’ll be plenty of Guinness pulled in Ireland tonight,” he joked.

“Seriously though I’m sure it’ll be very well received at home. It’s a big boost for the sport in Ireland.

“Dermot Lennon is the world showjumping champion and now I’ve won this title so it’s very good for the country as a whole.”

A lot of the riders had complaints about the difficulty of the jumps on the course at Markopoulo and the grass which seemed to cut up too easily in patches.

O’Connor had no complaints, saying: “The course was tough but it suited me and my horse. My horse is very ridable and you need a horse that can listen to you on tough courses like that,” he said.

“I was happy enough with my horse, he jumped well and thankfully sustained no injuries. I wouldn’t blame the ground. It’s the Olympics, the jumps are big and people are under pressure so things like this can happen.”

Ireland's other equestrian competitors, Kevin Babington on Carling King and Jessica Kuerten on Castle Forbes Maikes, secured eighth and 20th respectively.