Dramatic finish in team eventing leaves Australia with bronze, behind France and Germany

Dramatic finish in team eventing leaves Australia with bronze, behind France and Germany

Australia had led the team competition after the cross-country leg, but with the elimination of Shane Rose, the team had to count all three rounds in the jumping final. Stuart Tinney had 17 penalties on Pluto Mio, which put Australia out of first place. Sam Griffiths then went clear on his horse Paulank Brockagh to put Australia back in the race for gold. It set up a frantic finish, where a clear round from German world number one Michael Jung put his team in the gold medal position, only for France to take over with a clear from Nicolas Astier on Piaf de b'Neville. Olympic eventing legend Mark Todd - who won his first of two individual titles in Los Angeles in 1984 - had a chance to give New Zealand the lead, but he had four rails down on Leonidas II to push the team out of the medals. The final competitor Chris Burton - who had led the individual competition after the cross-country - had a chance to give Australia the gold with a clear round. He had two rails down, however, leaving his team in the bronze medal position and securing the Olympic title for France.