Agonising near misses nothing new even as Ireland reaches greater Olympic heights

Daniel Coyle was halfway through the course at the Palace of Versailles venue, and in need of a faultless round, when his mare Legacy lost a shoe and he lost the stirrup.

Ireland’s Rory McIlroy on the 18th of the final round at Le Golf National. Picture: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Maybe you’ve heard the story of the stirrup and the shoe already. Maybe you haven’t. If you haven’t then all you need to know here is that Daniel Coyle was a handful of fences away from an Olympic medal jump-off when it all fell apart.

We mean that literally.