Flawless Swedes dominate Olympic Team Jumping qualifier
Tokyo, Aug 6 (EFE).- Sweden is the favorite to win Olympic gold after finishing first Friday in the Tokyo 2020 Team Jumping qualifier, ahead of Belgium and Germany.
The Swedes: Henrik von Eckermann with King Edward, Malin Baryard-Johnson with Indiana and Peder Fredricson with All In, were the only team to make it through the course without penalties and in a time of 239.57 seconds.
A win in the final would be Sweden’s first medal in the competition since Athens 2004.
Finishing behind the 2018 World Equestrian Games champion were Belgium and Germany, finishing with 4 penalty points each and in 253.09 and 254.79 seconds, respectively.
Switzerland finished fourth with 10 points, ahead of the United States with 13, and defending Olympic champions France with 15.
The 10th and last spot in Saturday’s final was claimed by Argentina’s Fabian Sejanes with Emir, Martin Dopazo with Quintino 9, and Matias Albarracin with Cannavaro 9, who together racked up 27 penalty points.
Great Britain, led by Olympic individual champion Ben Maher, was seventh with 20 points, Brazil was eighth with 25 points and the Netherlands took ninth with 26 points.
The British are looking to crown Maher’s triumph in Individual Jumping by winning the team gold medal that eluded them in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Maikel van der Vleuten, who took the bronze in Individual Jumping with Beauville Z, was not so lucky. He picked up 8 penalty points on Friday, but will try to get the Dutch team over the line for a title they last won in 1992 at the Barcelona Games.
Mexico could do no better than 16th place after Eugenio Garza with Armani SL Z was eliminated.
The final is set for 10.00 UTC Saturday at the Baji Koen Equestrian Park in the Japanese capital. EFE
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