OLYMPIC champion Steve Guerdat has been crowned the Longines FEI World Cup champion following a nail-biting three-part marathon of jumping.

Ireland’s Bertram Allen and Molly Malone V put in a heroic effort to finish in third place after finishing fractionally behind the time of French rider Penelope Leprevost (Vagabond De La Pomme).

Guerdat put in three flawless round of jumping to give himself two fences – and one crucial time penalty – over his challengers from Ireland and France.

As it turned out, he needed all of that margin, knocking two fences in the final round and finishing with fractions of a second to spare.

Guerdat finished on eight penalties in a time of 67.76 seconds, while Leprevost finished on nine penalties in 65.30 seconds and Allen finished on nine penalties in 65.87 seconds.

Fourth place went to Beezie Madden (Simon) on 10 penalties/65.78, fifth to Jos Verlooy on 10 penalties/67.34 and sixth to Maikel van der Vleuten (VDL Groep Verdi Tn NOP) on 12 penalties.

The Irish-bred Flexible and American rider Rich Fellers finished seventh on 16 penalties.

Irish show jumping manager Robert Splaine said from Las Vegas after the competition: “This was a remarkable achievement in a world championship for a 19-year-old. Taking this third place was an incredible performance and is great for our sport . Bertram himself is a wonderful ambassador for Ireland."

Ireland has never won the World Cup, with Jessica Kurten coming second in Kuala Lumpur in 2006 on board Castle Forbes Libertina, and Trevor Coyle also taking the runner-up spot in the final at Gothenburg in Sweden in 1999 with the legendary Irish Sport Horse Cruising. Eddie Macken achieved third place at the inaugural World Cup Final in 1979 with Carrolls of Dundalk, also in Gothenburg.

Don’t miss The Irish Field this weekend for comprehensive coverage of the Longines FEI World Cup Final.