The Canadian Show Jumping Team of Jonathan Asselin of Calgary, Jill Henselwood of Oxford Mills, Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, and Ian Millar of Perth (all from Ontario) finished fourth in team competition at the XVI Pan American Games here.
But that ranking did not affect the team’s status as Olympic competitors. Canada will be part of the Olympics in London, beginning July 27.
Millar is currently Canada’s highest ranked competitor in seventh position individually.
A total of 12 teams contested the Pan Am Games team final. All four members of the team from the United States jumped double clear to clinch the gold medal with a total of 2.90 penalties. Brazil earned silver with 11.58 penalties while Mexico claimed the bronze with 13.24. Canada finished fourth with 21.92 penalties while Chile rounded out the top five with 32.52 penalties.
“There are a lot of nice horses and a lot of great riders competing at the Pan American Games,” said Terrance Millar, chef d’equipe of the Canadian team. “We weren’t at the top of our game; it just wasn’t good enough. Having said that, ours were horse and rider combinations that might be candidates for London and this might be a good stepping stone on the path of possibly representing us next year.”
As the top three nations not already qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games, the United States, Mexico and Chile booked their tickets to London.
Brazil and Canada held Olympic qualification thanks to their fourth and fifth place finishes at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky.
