Today was a critical day for the Irish Show Jumping team at the European Championships in Aachen, Germany as they were battling for Rio Qualification. The Irish team eventually finished in seventh place, just .4 of a penalty behind the Spanish team. As a result the Irish Team failed to qualify for next years Olympics, as the three remaining spots were taken by Spain, Switzerland and Great Britain. However, there is controversy surrounding the Irish decision. During Cian O'Connor's round, a member of the jump crew ran in front of O'Connor and his 9 year old stallion Good Luck. The pair were then thrown off course as O'Connor had to change his line to get around the man. O'Connor and Good Luck subsequently had the next fence down. The pair had jumped clear up until that point and without those four faults, they would have finished ahead of Spain and thus would have qualified for Rio 2016. O'Connor and the Irish Chef d'équipe, Robert Splaine, immediately lodged an appeal to the ground jury, judges and FEI officials. The first appeal was upheld and the second appeal was later rejected. HorseSport Ireland will now review the decision and will consider their options under FEI rules. As the decision and incident cost the Irish Team Olympic qualification, the Team will likely take the case to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) and appeal the decision. More information to come tomorrow. Photo : O'Connor and Good Luck in Dublin ©Equnews.com - Lorinda Crowley
