Macken is officially appointed as trainer

EDDIE MACKEN was officially announced yesterday as trainer to the Irish Olympic show jumping team following a meeting of the Show Jumping Association of Ireland (SJAI) selectors and the Olympic High Performance Committee.

The announcement came after it emerged last week that the original choice, Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Mullins, Commanding Officer of the Army Equitation School, had stepped aside following representation by riders on behalf of Macken.

Lieutenant Colonel Mullins will now act as chef d'equipe at some Nations Cups in the run up to Athens along with Tommy Wade who was designated Olympic team chef d'equipe.