Adventure of a lifetime

Golden Trio

The ‘problem’ with Michael Jung is he makes winning look effortless. Watching him and La Biosthetique FBW’s second Olympic gold win, particularly around Pierre Michelet’s brave cross-country course, would have been worth sitting on the plane wing to get to Rio de Janeiro to watch the pair in action.

Rio double magic wasn’t finished then as Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro danced their way to another London-Rio double. And then Nick Skelton came along. A seven-time Olympian, he finally got his deserved gold when Big Star’s time of 42.82 could not be bettered in a dramatic 13-horse jump off. It was the stuff of dreams.

#COYBIG

Irish highlights included dressage personal bests from the Olympic first-timers Clare Abbott, Jonty Evans and Padraig McCarthy, teamed up with Mark Kyle making his third Olympic appearance; Evans’ ninth place on the young Cooley Rorkes Drift, a horse in his prime by Tokyo and the pride on the faces of Philip Dutton and Sam Griffiths after winning medals on the Irish-breds, Mighty Nice and Paulank Brockagh.

Judy Reynolds and Vancouver K made Irish dressage history when they became the first Irish combination to qualify for the final, recording a new Irish Grand Prix Special score (74.090%) on their way to 18th place.

The pressure heaped on Greg Broderick’s shoulders at Rio must have been immense yet the Thurles rider shrugged it off saying that the Olympic pressure did not compare to jumping off in the Aga Khan Nations Cup. Reporting from events has changed and The Irish Field’s social media went into orbit as supporters followed his and MHS Going Global’s progress.

It’s easy to talk to the press after a good day. Nick Turner and Robert Splaine were professionals at handling the ups and down at Rio and Broderick ran the press zone gauntlet for a third time in one day to speak to RTE’s Peter Sweeney and The Irish Field after his Olympics ended, a learning curve that will stand to him in the long run.

Volunteers

The unsung and unpaid heroes of the Olympics put their summer on hold to volunteer, often behind the scenes and usually in 80+ degrees weather. Easy to spot in their sunshine yellow shirts, the multi-lingual volunteers, mostly Brazilian, got their international visitors from A to B, while Dublin schoolteacher Fiona ‘I’m hooked now on volunteering at the Olympics’ Hartnett and film studies student Kevin McGowan were part of the Media Centre crew at Deodoro; “I asked for archery or sailing and I got equestrian,” said McGowan. Welcome to Rio.

Supporters

Ticket sales were weak compared to Greenwich and the grandstands were full only for the final show jumping competitions. If Brazil could harness the energy of its Mexican-waving, all-cheering spectators, the country may not have to switch off the lights as it continues to pay the price of being Olympic hosts. Swiss fans brought their cowbells, British fans danced to the Spice Girls, part of ‘arena DJ’ Markus Hinzke’s infectious soundtracks and directly opposite the ‘Irish Row’ of Louise Parkes, Peter Sweeney and myself was the unforgettable sight of the French and German fans celebrating together after the eventing medal ceremony. Finbar Keating and his daughter Roisin defined dedicate supporters when the Co Clare pair travelled to attend Finbar’s third Olympics.

Cariocas

There aren’t enough good words to describe the best of the ‘cariocas’ or locals. Their kindness and courtesy would test the Irish reputation for hospitality, from their insistence on giving up train seats to finding anything from birthday cake to bottled water left at the Airbnb apartment door by the neighbours.

You learned to respond ‘Não, Irlandês’ to the frequent query of ‘Americano?’ and there was only one uneasy moment when a local started making gun to forehead and throat-slitting gestures. It turned out, thanks to an ever-present volunteer who translated, that his brother once worked here in a Kepak factory. That was reassuring.

Security was ramped up for the Games with groups of often baby-faced soldiers stationed around Deodoro and transport hubs. Surrounded by favelas, or shanty towns, there was the awkward realisation that the locals will be paying for these Olympics long after 2016.

Golden Moment

I went to Rio with 37 words of Portuguese and came back needing thousands more to describe watching history being made and the experience of a lifetime. Clark Montgomery’s description of the Christ the Redeemer Statue, towering over the city, as ‘the Big Jesus’ was light-hearted relief on Bulletgate day, while Nick Skelton’s stop on his lap of honour to show his and Big Star’s gold medal to a cluster of British fans was special.

Ruy Fonseca’s instantaneous reaction of rebuilding a fence after his horse refused and catapulted the Brazilian into it endeared himself to both the home crowd and anyone who watched the incident. That was Olympic class sportsmanship.