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Canada’s Eric Lamaze Claims Olympic Gold Medal in Show Jumping

August 21, 2008

Hong Kong, China --- Eric Lamaze, 40, of Schomberg, ON, won the Individual Gold Medal on Thursday, August 21, at the Sha Tin equestrian venue in Hong Kong, China.

Lamaze riding Hickstead and Rolf-Goran Bengtsson riding Ninja were the only two riders to jump clear over the two rounds comprising the Individual Final to force a jump-off for the Individual Gold Medal. Over the shortened jump-off track, Bengtsson had the final fence down and completed the course in 38.39 seconds. Lamaze also took 38.39 seconds to complete the course, but left all the rails in place to claim the Gold Medal. A seven-horse jump-off was also necessary to determine the Individual Bronze Medal with Beezie Madden of the United States emerging the winner riding Authentic.

Canadian flags waved throughout the crowd of 18,000 spectators as Lamaze made history by becoming the first Canadian equestrian athlete to claim an Individual Gold Medal. Michel Vaillancourt is the only other Canadian equestrian athlete to win an Individual Medal, silver in show jumping, at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

“He felt really good in the first round, and was still fresh in the second round,” said Lamaze of his horse, Hickstead, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Torrey Pines Stables and Ashland Stables. “He is a careful horse and when you need to leave the rails up, you can count on him. He makes my job easy. It is an honour.”

In reference to not competing at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, Lamaze said, “Hopefully I will speak about this for the last time. You can’t come back in the sport without great support from your friends, family and owners, and they supported me and made it impossible for me not to try. The past is the past. If this doesn’t make people forgive and stop talking about it, I don’t know what will.”

Following its Silver Medal victory on Monday night, Canada qualified three riders for the Individual Final. Lamaze, Jill Henselwood, 45, of Oxford Mills, ON, and Ian Millar, 61, of Perth, ON, were all among the top 35 riders in the individual standings to qualify to compete on Thursday night. The fourth team member, Mac Cone of King City, ON, was not able to compete in the second round of the Team Final due to an injury to his horse, Ole, making him ineligible for the Individual Final. The Canadian Show Jumping Team was under the guidance of chef d’equipe Terrance ‘Torchy’ Millar of Hillsburgh, ON.

In the first round of the Individual Final, Lamaze and Hickstead posted one of 10 clear rounds to tie for first place and guarantee their starting spot in the second round which consisted of the top 20 athletes, including ties, bringing the total to 22. Henselwood and Special Ed incurred four faults, to tie for 11th position and advance to the second round where they retired to end their Olympic debut in 22nd place. Placing 23rd, Millar did not make the cut for the second round after he and In Style had eight faults in the opening round of competition.

Hours before the start of the Individual Final, it was announced that four horses had positive drug tests. All four were qualified for the Individual Final, but did not compete due to an immediate provisional suspension by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI). They were Bernardo Alves of Brazil with Chupa Chup, Christian Ahlmann of Germany with Coster, Denis Lynch of Ireland with Latinus, and Tony-Andre Hansen of Norway with Camiro. If the suspension is upheld, Norway will lose its Team Bronze Medal to Switzerland.

For more information, including results, please visit www.fei.org/olympics.

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