Lamaze and Cone coming home with medals
Silver for Canadian Show Jumping Team

The Canadian Show Jumping Team won the Olympic silver medal. Seen here are Mac Cone, Ian Millar, Eric Lamaze and Jill Henselwood. Photo by Cealy Tetley

The Canadian Show Jumping Team claimed the Olympic silver medal Monday, and just missed getting the gold.

Schomberg's Eric Lamaze and Mac Cone of King City joined their teammates Jill Henselwood of Oxford Mills and Ian Millar of Perth on the podium. They completed the team final with a total score of 20 faults, as did the United States, to force a jump-off for the gold medal.

In the jump-off, all three American riders posted clear rounds while Canada had to count a four fault score from Henselwood, giving the United States the team gold and Canada the team silver. Norway earned the team bronze with a score of 27 faults.

Canada came into the second round of the team final Monday tied for fourth place with 16 faults. But Cone's horse, Ole, was not fit to compete, meaning that Canada had to count all three scores from Henselwood, Lamaze and Millar.

Cone withdrew as Ole sustained a minor injury during Sunday's first round.

Eric Lamaze and Hickstead lead the Canadian Show Jumping Team in Hong Kong. Photo by Cealy Tetley

"It sure does put you at a disadvantage," Millar admitted, "But it is not uncommon in this sport to compete with three members. We've lost a strong one, but one of our closest opponents are in the same position."

Millar was referring to the British, with whom Canada was tied. Great Britain was reduced to three Sunday when their veteran John Whitaker's horse seemed to be feeling unwell in the morning.

Henselwood, 45, and Special Ed, a 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Juniper Farms, opened strong for Canada by delivering a clear round.

"He gives an extraordinary amount of effort," said Henselwood, who was making her Olympic debut. "We had the pressure of a three-man squad and also of wearing the flag, but we also had all the support from our Canadian fans as well."

Lamaze, 40, was the next Canadian into the stadium and had an uncharacteristic four faults with Hickstead, a 12-yearold Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Torrey Pines Stables and Ashland Stables. However, Millar kept the Canadian score to a minimum when he delivered a clear round riding In Style, a 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Susan Grange of Lothlorien Farm in Cheltenham. His performance guaranteed a team medal for Canada.

"I've been riding on the team for 39 years and a lot of good things have happened, but the Olympics have never quite gone my way," recounted Millar, 61, who is making a record-tying ninth Olympic appearance. "This is remarkable for me. I can't say enough about our great team and horses, and our chef d'equipe Torchy Millar, and all the people in Canada who are behind us. We had great synergy."

The top 35 riders in the individual rankings move forward to Thursday's individual final. Lamaze, Millar and Henselwood all made the cut. Lamaze was tied for second place with four faults, Millar was tied for eighth with eight faults and Henselwood was ranked 26th with 19 faults. All riders start from zero in the individual final.

Following the first round of competition, the top 20 riders move forward to the second round, and any ties are then broken by a jump-off before individual medals are awarded.

It was 40 years since Canada earned its only Olympic team show jumping gold medal, with the performance of Jim Elder, Tom Gayford and Jim Day.

Millar, was daring Sunday night in predicting a medal. After the loss of Cone's mount, Canada lost the luxury of a discard score, in a contest where the best three scores count. But, the remaining three team members met the pressure head-on.

Henselwood's face showed some disappointment as the U.S. secured the gold, but she was still thrilled.

"A medal is a life-long dream come true," she declared.

A determined Henselwood made a powerful recovery after being Canada's discard score Sunday. "The angel's came down," she said about Monday's turn of events after Cone's withdrawal.

"Jill's performance motivated us all", Millar said.

Once a medal looked within reach, he remarked, "And then we'll just keep on going to 2012."

This being his ninth Olympics, and having never earned a medal, Millar was elated, but emotional. He lost his wife, Lynn, to cancer in March.

"This one's for Lynn," he said.

His 34-year-old son, Jonathon, and 31-year-old daughter, Amy, were both in Hong Kong with him. His goal now is for them to be his team-mates in 2012.

Lamaze was also very emotional about their achievement.

"These games are coming together just the way we planned," he said, seeming very optimistic about Thursday. He praised Millar's pressure performance Monday.

The Canadians were tied for fourth place after Sunday's rounds.

In an extremely close race, Switzerland and the United States were tied for first with 12 faults, Sweden was third with 13, and Canada and Great Britain each had 16.

Lamaze produced a faultless round for Canada riding Hickstead. His performance put the Canadian Team back on track after Cone incurred 12 faults riding Ole and Henselwood had 18. As the anchor rider, Millar had only fence number 12 down to incur four faults. Counting the three best scores from Cone, Lamaze and Millar, the Canadian Team concluded the first round with a total of 16 faults.

"I promise you it will be cleaned up for the next round; I give you my word," said Millar. "That is the drama of the Nations' Cup (team competition) - the wheels can fall off so fast for any team. But Mac and Jill are hard-core riders and they won't let this happen again tomorrow, and Eric will be clean and I'll be clean and we'll see you on the podium!"

"There are many good horses and riders here, but Hickstead is very consistent," said Lamaze. "He has lots of energy and energy translates into power."