IRISH show jumping team manager Robert Splaine is adamant that he made the right decision in choosing Greg Broderick and MHS Going Global to be Ireland’s sole show jumping combination at Rio 2016.

“Obviously it was a difficult decision, there’s no question about that but a decision had to be made and I had the job of doing that. I believe that Greg and Junior were and are an excellent combination, they have a huge future ahead of them and it was simply a matter of very small margins at the end of the day that kept them from challenging for a medal.

“So yes, I’m very happy with the selection,” he told The Irish Field on Tuesday. “There is no question that they are truly Olympic material.

“Tiny errors cost them dearly, like a toe in the water, at what was a hugely controversial water, cost us a place at the next round.”

overlooked

Ireland’s place at the Olympics was won by Ireland’s highest-ranked show jumper Bertram Allen, who was controversially overlooked for the Rio place, as were London Olympic bronze medallist Cian O’Connor and World Cup finalist Denis Lynch. Allen, Broderick, Lynch and O’Connor were named by Splaine back in February as the four riders in contention for Olympic selection and ultimately Broderick was selected for the place, with O’Connor as reserve.

When asked if the FEI rule which says the decision on which rider takes up the national place should be changed so that the rider who wins an Olympic place is automatically the rider at the Games, Splaine was emphatic: “Absolutely not. It’s there for a very good reason. It’s not an Irish rule, it’s an FEI rule and they would have looked at that very, very seriously. It has to be somebody on form to represent your country at the Olympics and that is what happened in this case.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Splaine singled out the Furusiyya Nations Cup final in Barcelona at the end of September as the Irish team’s main aim and felt on his Olympic form that Broderick and MHS Going Global had an excellent chance of being selected for that team too.