CAEN, France (AP) – Dutch rider Jeroen Dubbeldam won the jumping competition at the World Equestrian Games with four clear rounds in the final four yesterday.
Dubbeldam, the Olympic champion at the Sydney Games in 2000, edged Patrice Delaveau of France by a point. Beezie Madden of the United States took the bronze medal.
“I didn’t think I had a really big chance to come into this final,” Dubbeldam told Equidia Life television. “My horse is quite green but he made an unbelievable effort for me.”
Meanwhile, Boyd Exell of Australia won the driving competition with a clear run at the obstacles test.
In the final four format, every rider jumps four rounds – one round on their own horses and then one round on each of their rivals’ horses.
At the halfway stage, only Delaveau and Dubbeldam had made no mistakes at Stade d’Ornano.
Delaveau, who qualified for the final with the best score, surrendered the lead to Dubbeldam in the third round by picking up a penalty point for exceeding the time allowed by 0.43 seconds aboard Casall Ask.
“He was the older of the four horses. He made mistakes with the first two riders,” Delaveau told Equidia Life television. “That’s why maybe I didn’t dare go faster. I took as much time as I could and that’s how I got a bit tricked.”
Madden knocked down a rail in the triple combination in each of the last three rounds to wind up with 12 points. The American was competing in her second final four after finishing runner-up at the 2006 games in Aachen, Germany. She underwent surgery for a broken collarbone in May.
Rolf-Goran Bengtsson of Sweden, the fourth finalist with 14 points, quickly fell out of contention. The silver medallist at the Beijing Games in 2008 was the only rider who took out a fence with his own horse in the opening round.
Best horse honours went to Madden’s mount, Cortes C, who was the only horse to jump four clear rounds.
