Saudi Arabia leads after 1st round of team jumping

Published August 05, 2012

| Sports Network

London, England – Saudi Arabia had a three-point lead on four countries Sunday after the first round of team jumping at the London Olympics.

Meanwhile, another United States rider was eliminated in the individual jumping competition.

Three Saudi riders out of four finished with one combined time penalty at Greenwich Park heading into the second and final day of team jumping Monday.

Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland were tied for second with four penalties apiece.

Canada, led by reigning individual Olympic champion Eric Lamaze, was sixth with five points and the U.S. had eight points to share seventh place with Brazil.

American Rich Fellers was one of 12 riders without a jumping or time penalty after the second qualifier. Lamaze was tied for 13th place with one time penalty and Canadian Ian Millar and American McLain Ward shared 17th with four total penalties.

Reed Kessler was the second U.S. rider to be knocked out of the competition after getting eight jumping penalties Sunday. Beezie Madden, the 2008 bronze medalist, was eliminated on the first day of competition Saturday.

Kessler's score was dropped from the four-rider U.S. team's total. Ward and Madden both had four penalties. Madden said her ride on Via Volo was "much better" than the day before, when the horse refused two jumps.

Team competition runs through Monday and individual jumping continues through Wednesday.

URL

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/08/05/saudi-arabia-leads-after-1st-round-team-jumping/