Leonard bullish Ireland can strike gold in Olympics

WITH the Olympic year in the offing, chief show jumping selector Peter Leonard is confident Ireland can produce the goods and win the country’s first gold medal in the code.

The Limerick man says his confidence is based on the superb results achieved by Irish riders in the past four years, following the decision not to send a team to the Sydney Olympics.

"Sydney was a wake-up call in terms of getting new blood into the team. At the time, the selectors felt we did not have sufficient ammunition to go to Australia," he said, discounting the cost of transporting the horses as the basis for the decision.