The individual

jumping Jumping or leaping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotics, robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jumping can be distinguished from running, gallo ...

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

at the 2012 Olympic Games in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

was held at

Greenwich Park Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south-east London. One of the Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed (in 1433), it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World Heritag ...

from 4 to 8 August. Like all other

events, the jumping competition was mixed gender, with both male and female athletes competing in the same division. There were 75 competitors from 26 nations. The event was won by Steve Guerdat of Switzerland, the nation's first victory in individual jumping since 1924 and second overall (tying the United States for fourth-most). Gerco Schroder of the Netherlands took silver.

Cian O'Connor Cian O'Connor (born 12 November 1979) is an Irish equestrian who competes in show jumping. He has competed at three Olympic Games, four World Championships and six European Championships, and has attained 133 senior caps for his country. He won ...

of Ireland, who had been stripped of a gold medal in the event in 2004, earned bronze—Ireland's first medal in the event.

Background

This was the 24th appearance of the event, which had first been held at the 1900 Summer Olympics and has been held at every Summer Olympics at which equestrian sports have been featured (that is, excluding 1896, 1904, and 1908). It is the oldest event on the current programme, the only one that was held in 1900. Nine of the top 14 riders (including ties for 9th place) from the 2008 Games returned: gold medalist

Eric Lamaze Eric Lamaze (born April 17, 1968) is a Canadian retired showjumper and Olympic champion. He won individual gold and team silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, riding his famed horse Hickstead. Lamaze has won three Olympic medals, as well as four ...

of Canada, silver medalist (and 2004 fourth-place finisher)

Rolf-Göran Bengtsson Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (born 2 June 1962 in Lund, Sweden) is a Swedish show jumper. He won a silver medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in the individual jumping, and also a silver medal in the team jumping event at the 2004 Summer ...

of Sweden, bronze medalist

Beezie Madden Elizabeth Madden (née Patton; born 20 November 1963) is an American Olympic champion equestrian competing in show jumping. She has two Olympic golds and one silver in team jumping, and an individual bronze. She won the FEI Show Jumping Wor ...

of the United States, fourth-place finisher

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (born 26 December 1969) is an American-born German equestrian who competes at the international level in show jumping. Career She grew up riding ponies and had a successful career as a Young Rider, both in equit ...

of Germany, fifth-place finisher

McLain Ward McLain Ward (born October 17, 1975) is an American show jumping competitor and five-time Olympic medalist. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Ward won the team jumping gold medal for the United States, together with Peter Wylde, Beezie Mad ...

of the United States, seventh-place finisher

Marc Houtzager Marc Houtzager (born 9 January 1971 in Rouveen) is a Dutch equestrian whose specialty is show jumping.Steve Guerdat of Switzerland, Edwina Alexander of Australia, and

Jos Lansink Jozeph Johannes Gerardus Marinus "Jos" Lansink (born 19 March 1961 in Weerselo) is an equestrian from the Netherlands, currently representing Belgium, who competes in the sport of show jumping.Cian O'Connor Cian O'Connor (born 12 November 1979) is an Irish equestrian who competes in show jumping. He has competed at three Olympic Games, four World Championships and six European Championships, and has attained 133 senior caps for his country. He won ...

of Ireland, who had taken gold in 2004 until being stripped of it due to a doping violation, and Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil, the beneficiary of that disqualification in taking gold in 2004 who had himself had a fifth-place finish in 2008 wiped out by a doping violation. The reigning World Champion was

Philippe Le Jeune Philippe Lejeune (born 13 August 1938) is a French professor and essayist, known as a specialist in autobiography. He is the author of numerous works on the subject of autobiography and personal journals. He is a cofounder of the ''Association p ...

of Belgium; Lansink (2006) and Pessoa (1998) were also former World Champions. The #1-ranked rider, and European champion, was Bengtsson; he was a favorite along with

Pius Schwizer Pius Schwizer (born 13 August 1962) is a Swiss Olympic-level equestrian who competes in the sport of show jumping. He won the bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in team jumping following the disqualification of Norwegian rider Tony Andr� ...

and Steve Guerdat of Switzerland and

Nick Skelton Nicholas David Skelton (born 30 December 1957, Bedworth, Warwickshire) is a British former equestrian who competed in show jumping. He retired at the age of 59 years old, on 5 April 2017. He began riding at age 18 months and in 1975 took two t ...

of Great Britain. Syria made its debut in the event. France and the United States both competed for the 21st time, tied for most of any nation.

Qualification

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) could qualify up to 4 horse and rider pairs; there were a total of 75 quota places. Each of the 15 nations qualified for the team jumping could enter 4 pairs in the individual event. The qualified teams were: * Host Great Britain * 5 teams from the World Equestrian Games: Germany, France, Belgium, Brazil, and Canada * 3 teams from the European Jumping Championship: the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland * 3 teams from the Pan American Games: the United States, Mexico, and Chile * 1 team from the World Games from regional groups C or G: Australia * 1 team from the qualification event for groups C or G: Ukraine * 1 team from the World Games and the qualification event from group F: Saudi Arabia There were also 15 individual qualification places, with NOCs not earning team spots able to earn up to 2 individual spots. All of these places were assigned by regional groups: * Groups A and B had three spots, assigned through rankings * Group C had two spots, assigned through rankings * Group D had one spot and Group E had 4 spots, assigned through the Pan American Games * Group F had three spots, two assigned through the World Games and one through a qualification event * Group G had two spots, one assigned through the World Games and one through a qualification event

Competition format

Five rounds of jumping were conducted, in two stages. The first three rounds made up the qualifications, with cuts between each round. The top 60 advanced to the second round; the top 45 advanced to the third round. The second and third rounds were also used for the team jumping event. Following the qualifications, the top 35 pairs moved on to the final round. Only the top 20 pairs advanced to the second of the two final rounds. Final rankings were based on the sum of scores from both rounds of the final stage. A jump-off would be held to break a tie for any of the medal positions.

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Results

Qualifying round

Round 1

The first qualifying round was run on a relatively easy course with a length of 510 m and an allowed time of 1:22.

Round 2

The course for the second round was 550 m long with an allowed time of 1:28.

Round 3

The course for the third round was 550 meters long (with 13 fences) with an allowed time of 1:28.Jumping team final reportFEI
Bengtsson withdrew from the final when his horse, Casall, turned up lame the morning of the final. Two riders (Muff and Vrieling) were ineligible as the fourth-best riders from their nations. The qualifying rank thus went from 35 to 38. A three-way tie for 38th resulted in all three advancing, for a total of 37 finalists.

Final round

Round A

O'Connor, who had only reached the final due to Bengtsson's withdrawal, took advantage of the fresh scoring, as one of six riders to clear round A cleanly.

Round B

Silver medal jump-off

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Equestrian at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Individual jumping Individual jumping