Where things went wrong for the British Olympic event riders
The cross-country course at the Rio Olympics proved a little troublesome for our British riders.
On a day which was packed full with action, only three riders jumped clear inside the optimum time of 10mins15sec; Chris Burton (Santano II), Michael Jung (Sam FBW) and Astier Nicholas, who was second out on course, riding Piaf De B’Neville.
First of the British team riders to go was Gemma Tattersall riding the grey mare Quicklook V. They encountered their first problem at fence four, the first of the four water complexes. Gemma’s horse ran past the ‘c’ element of the combination, which was a narrow log. Gemma then incurred another 20 penalties at the influential PanAm Wall Combination at fence number 11ab and 12, when the mare couldn’t quite make the forward three strides required from part a (a step up), to part b, an angled brush.
Next out on course was William Fox-Pitt riding the stallion Chilli Morning. Unfortunately after a good start, things went wrong for this combination at the Ski Jump combination at fences 19 and 20ab. Chilli jumped quite boldly over the first element, a hanging log, and subsequently made the forward three strides to a triple brush but then ran past the third element, another narrow brush.
Third out on course for Team GB was Pippa Funnell, riding the eye-catching grey, Billy The Biz. Things were all going so well for this pair until Billy The Biz nipped out to the side of a narrow frog fence at the fourth and final water complex.
The final combination for the British team was Kitty King riding Ceylor LAN, but like Gemma Tattersall, their hopes of a clear round came to an end at the PanAm Wall Combination.
Full 25-page report on the eventing from Rio 2016 in H&H next week — out Friday, 12 August. H&H is published on Friday instead of Thursday next week only to allow us to report the full competition from the Olympics.
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Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.