LEGENDARY double Olympic gold medallist Mark Todd incurred a heart-wrenching 16 faults with Leonidas ll in the final show jumping phase of the Rio 2016 eventing competition last week, dashing his hopes of taking home another medal.Todd had a sixth Olympic medal in his sights, which would have been a New Zealand record and described his show jumping phase as “one of the biggest lows in my career.”

“The whole week was a roller coaster ride. After yesterday's cross country we were still in with a chance and then - boom – you’re out. I was hoping to go out on a high. Leonidas is such a good jumper but he got wound up when going into the arena. I thought he would settle but he got more and more rattled,” said the shattered 60-year-old Kiwi legend.

Prior to the Olympics, he spoke about the special connection between horse and rider that is essential to all equestrian sports.

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