Team Canada came to Brazil determined to gain a berth to the 2008 Olympic Games.  Jill Henselwood  put in solid performances to help her teammates accomplish their goal, and then she was free to risk everything for an individual medal.  She and Special Ed rose to the occasion and achieved two more outstanding rides to capture  the gold medal on July 29 in Rio de Janeiro.

Last Friday, Brazil grabbed team gold during the Pan American Games in front of an ecstatic hometown crowd, but today they would have to be satisfied with silver in the show jumping individual final, as Rodrigo Pessoa couldn’t catch Henselwood.  Canada’s Eric Lamaze took home bronze. 

Canada went into the individual final with three riders in the top six spots, neck and neck with the Brazilians, who had three in the top seven. But when the air cleared it was Canada with two riders on the podium.

Cara Raether, the only U.S. rider to complete the competition, had an admirable eighth-placed finish. Lauren Hough dropped out of the race after this morning’s round went awry, and although Laura Chapot and Little Big Man were qualified to compete in the individual final, Chapot elected to sit it out.  Little Big Man had  recovered from his displaced intestine earlier this week, but he was still tired from the ordeal, and Chapot decided to let him rest.

Henselwood was a clear front-runner all week, only taking down one rail throughout the competition. With this great finish she became  the first woman to win an individual gold medal in show jumping at the Pan American Games in 24 years.

Brazil’s own Guilherme Jorge designed today’s two challenging tracks.  In the morning both of the combinations in the course caused lots of problems.  Most competitors had at least one rail at a difficult triple bar, in-and-out line or the triple combination across the center of the ring.

Cara Raether and Ublesco entered the ring sitting in the tenth spot and hoping to post her second clear round of the competition. Raether struggled to organize Ublesco’s long stride after the four-meter wide water, and Ublesco caught a rail coming out of the next line to post four faults. 

Sixth-ranked Eric Lamaze threw his hat in the ring by posting a flawless round with Hickstead, holding on to his score of 6.43. 

Lauren Hough and Casadora came into this morning’s class in fifth place, just 3.45 points off the lead. With four top riders ahead of her, she very much needed a clear round to remain in the medal race.  But it was not to be. Casadora caught a rail at the second jump of the triple bar, in-and-out line, then ran into trouble at the triple, snagging a rail at each fence to bank 12 faults. 

“The first pole I had coming into the double, I could have done one more stride in hindsight,” said Hough.  “But the triple—I’m always one to blame myself, but honestly she just didn’t jump high enough, it doesn’t get any more complicated than that.” 

Hometown hero  Pessoa had a little more luck with the fences that tripped up Hough.  Although Rufus rubbed the same three fences as Casadora, the fences stayed up, and Pessoa became the second Brazilian of the day, after Bernardo Alves on Chupa Chup 2, to post a clear round.

Canada’s anchor, the venerable Ian Millar, looked completely at ease guiding In Style around the track.  He masterfully negotiated the tricky combinations to post another double clear round.

Millar’s teammate Henselwood positively attacked the course aboard the athletic Special Ed. Henselwood kept her cool when Special Ed tripped on landing during the triple bar and balanced her horse to jump out of the in-and-out cleanly.

Last to challenge the morning’s track was Brazil’s rising star, 24-year-old Pedro Veniss on his scopey stallion Un Blanc de Blancs.  But his hopes for a gold medal faded as the very last fence tumbled to the ground after a faint tick with a back hoof.  You couldn’t even hear the rail hit over the screaming fans, who were sure that Veniss was clear.

With three Canadians in the top four, a medal sweep became a real possibility.  But they would have to unseat Pessoa, riding in bronze medal position in front of his hometown crowd.  Henselwood sat at the top of the leaderboard, followed by Millar and Pessoa, with Lamaze in a close fourth. 

Sitting a distant ninth with one round of competition left, Hough decided to let Casadora stay in her stall and rest up for next week’s $1,000,000 Athina Onnasis International Horse Show CSI***** in São Paulo, Brazil.  

“Getting an individual medal is a really big goal of mine, but unfortunately it didn’t happen today,” said Hough.  “We have a big class coming up next week for a lot of money.  I’m always one to ride for my country, but being so far down, I was out of medal contention; I’ve done these enough, I didn’t feel that I had to go for experience.” 

The second course of the day lacked the combinations that dashed the dreams of so many competitors, but it had big jumps—the final vertical stood at 1.62 meters—and the time allowed was prohibitively tight.

The only U.S. rider left, Cara Raether, entered the final round of individual competition ranked eighth.  The pair got off to a great start, but Ublesco caught a rail coming out of a three-stride line.  Together with a time fault, Raether posted five faults to finish with a score of 20.53. 

By the time it was Lamaze’s turn, he’d already watched 21 riders struggle to find a way around in time.  But the gutsy Canadian found a shorter track for Hickstead and left all the jumps up to post the first double clear round of the competition, keeping his score of 6.43.

“When it got towards the end, [of the order] I’d watched enough so I could figure out where to shave a couple seconds,” said Lamaze.  “He jumped so well this morning, I knew he had another round in him.” 

Now it was up to Pessoa, sitting third, to seal the deal for his country and take home an individual medal.  The pair received a hero’s welcome upon cantering into the arena, but a deathly hush fell over the crowd when the bell rang, and Pessoa  and Rufus set to work on the course.  The Dutch gelding easily cleared the fences, with fans clucking and encouraging him over during difficult moments and finished within the time to enter in his fourth clear round of the competition. 

Pessoa’s fantastic ride really put the pressure on Millar as just one time fault would cost the Canadian the silver, and a rail would place him clearly outside the top three. After a bobble during a bending line, In Style caught a rail coming out of the three-stride, dashing Millar’s hopes for a medal and the Canadians’ hope for a clean sweep. 

Henselwood was last to ride, and Special Ed looked far too game to take down any rails today.  When the pair came in a little tight to the combination Henselwood kept her cool and gave Special Ed just the support he needed to leave the jumps up.   The pair left every rail in the cups and whizzed through the timers well within the limit to win the gold. 

For Henselwood winning the gold was more a notch on her horse’s belt than her own.  “I wasn’t sure I’d won, because it was quiet,” said Henselwood.  “But I’m thrilled.  It was so important to me that Special Ed won a title.  Horses around him, who weren’t as good as him, were winning Canadian championships.  This was his first championship win ever.”

Pessoa described the chance to compete in front of a crowd of enthusiastic Brazilian fans as unique.  “I’ve won at the Olympics and at World Cup competitions, and it always feels great,” said Pessoa.  “But to go through all the problems and take home the silver individual medal in front of all these cheering fans is incredible.”

There was real doubt as to whether Pessoa would even compete in the Games.  He lives and trains in Europe and debated not making the trip to his home country just for the Pan Ams. “My father suffered a lot through the process, and I suffered as well,” said Pessoa.  “In the end I definitely made the right decision.”

This was Lamaze’s third Pan Am games, and his third individual medal.  Though he was thrilled at the honor, he definitely had mixed feelings about usurping a medal from teammate  Millar.  “He’s done great things for Canada and for the sport,” said Lamaze.  “I’d have loved to have seen him on the podium.  I’d trade places with him in a second.”

Many Pan Am competitors, including Chapot, Raether, Hough and Todd Minikus, will stay in Brazil for the CSI***** Athina Onasis International Horse Show in São Paulo from August 2-5. 

Individual Results:
Final
1. CAN Jill Henselwood, Special Ed, 4
2. BRA Rodrigo Pessoa, Rufus, 5.74
3. CAN Eric Lamaze, Hickstead, 6.43
4. CAN Ian Millar, In Style, 9.29
5. BRA Pedro Veniss, Un Blanc de Blancs, 10.84
6. BRA Bernardo Alves, Chupa Chup 2, 13.09
7. MEX Jose Antonio Chedraui, Don Porfrio, 14.85
8. USA Cara Raether, Ublesco, 20.53
9. BRA Cesar Almeida, Singular Joter II, 20.66
10. VEN Pablo Barrios, Sun God, 36.03
11. COL Carlos Hernando Ramirez, Amazonas,41.32
12. ARG Matias Albarracin, Gama Cocu, 41.34
13. MEX Eduardo Salas, RMW Estina, 43.92
14. CAN Mac Cone, Melinda, 45.31
15. GUA Juan Andres Rodriguez, Orestus VDL,47.40
16. GUA Wylder Rodriguez, Pompidu, 48.8
17. BER Patrick Nisbett, Antille 8,
18. COL Mauricio Ruiz, Ratoucha, 55.17
19. PUR Francis Tress Roig, Acertijo, 55.27
20. BOL Hernan Aguirre Castillo, Trivitano Miraflores, 57.45
21. COL Ricardo Villa, Calico Z, 59.10
22. ECU Diego Vivero Viteri, Cantabrica, 65.11
23. GUA Eduardo Castillo, Paesen, 69.78
24. VEN Leopoldo Paoli, Remonta Escaupil, 71.93
25. BER Jillian Terceira, Navantus, 91.49
(RT) ARG Maximiliano Amaya, Church Road
(RT) MEX Santiago Lambre, Curant
(RT) USA Lauren Hough, Casadora
(EL) Samuel Parot, Signature