O'Connor jubilant after Olympic win

Cian O'Connor, the grandson of Irish rugby great Dr Karl Mullen, choked back the tears as Amhran na bhFiann rang out around the Markopoulo centre tonight, singling the end of Ireland's Athens medal drought.

O'Connor rode a superb clear second round on 13-year-old gelding Waterford Crystal to grab a surprise win, having been joint-fourth after the afternoon's round.

Afterwards the 24-year-old was elated.

"I'm delighted with it. It's not often I'm stuck for words," said the Kildare-born rider. "My horse jumped class. I couldn't have asked for anymore.

"I didn't want to pre-empt anything with eight riders to go after me but I'm thrilled with it.

I didn't even watch the last two as I got back up on Waterford Crystal in case there was a jump-off."

O'Connor also paid tribute to "his winning team".

"It was a real team effort, my sponsors, the Irish team here have all helped me to win this medal. My groom Jane Doyle, who's been with me this past two years, has been fantastic and of course, the horse plays the greatest part," he said.

"He gave me his best, just chipping the back rail of the combination in the first round."

Having mustered just the second clear of the night, along with Brazilian Rodrigo Pessoa who beat out Chris Kappler of the United States for a jump-off silver, O'Connor became the first Irish male to win an Olympic medal for twelve years.

Britain's Nick Skelton, the last man out, dropped three fences and went over the 69 seconds limit.

Jessica Kuerten and Castle Forbes Maike plunged through four successive fences to ruin her afternoon clear with 21 penalty points, finishing tied-19th. Ireland's Kevin Babington has just one rail down in the second round as Carling King jumped to a share of fifth.