Stampede
Three
days, four riders, one gold: Australia's team does some world-trampling
arithmetic
By LISA CLAUSEN
Insects
don't often feature in an Olympic athlete's preparation. And
Australian rider Phillip Dutton is not normally a superstitious
man. But as he walked the 7.45-km cross-country course before
the three-day team event, a ladybird landed on his leg. He
didn't remove it until he reached one of the course's most
daunting obstacles-the water jump called Devil's Back Billabong.
After pacing out the jump and visualizing his path, he left
the bug on one of the rails. "When you get to something like
this," he says, "you want any little help you can get."
Something
more than luck was at work last week, when Australia eclipsed
an international field in the three-day event to take a third
consecutive Olympic gold. Arch rivals Great Britain and the
U.S. were beaten into the lower placings by Atlanta gold medalist
Dutton, Stuart Tinney, Barcelona dual gold medalist Matt Ryan
and dual gold medalist Andrew Hoy. "They have said we couldn't
do it twice now," said Australian head coach Wayne Roycroft
moments after the win. Skeptics put Australia's gold at Barcelona
down to luck; a few even made the same claim at Atlanta. After
Sydney, those doubters are unlikely to be heard from again.
The biggest test came first. Dressage, the equestrian equivalent
of ballet, was once Australia's weak link. "We relied totally
on cross-country to pull us up," recalls Ryan. Not this time.
After Atlanta, where the dressage briefly dragged Australia
into sixth place, the Australians paid for international judges
to be flown in for three-star events (the level just below
Olympic standard). In return, the judges analyzed videotapes
of Australia's dressage efforts. The program paid off in Sydney:
Hoy set an international record of 30.6 penalty points in
the team event, and later won silver in the individual three-day
event, while Tinney recorded a personal best.
The endurance phase, involving steeplechase, road and track,
and cross-country, has always been Australia's strongest suit.
Australian Thoroughbreds and their riders revel in cross-country's
wild, risky race against the clock. All managed clear rounds,
with Hoy and Tinney finishing within the 13 min. 0.05 sec.
allowed. The 50,000-strong crowd screamed encouragement. "To
be galloping past and hear them call out your name," said
Dutton. "I've never been involved in anything like it."
The show jumping began dramatically: the highly rated New
Zealand team was knocked out after Blyth Tait's bruised horse,
Ready Teddy, failed a veterinary inspection. Australia started
the final day with a 12-point lead. First Ryan, then Dutton
and Tinney put in polished rounds-Tinney recording the team's
best score in his Olympic debut. And when Hoy, the day's last
rider, finished with just 15 penalty points and within time,
the victory was sealed.
Teammates tumbled down stairs in their hurry to reach the
winners; the crowd stood and demanded four victory gallops
around the arena. Says Ryan: "I never thought competing on
home turf would be so emotional." A jubilant Roycroft, who
had been so nervous he watched from behind nearby trees, praised
"the boys"-and the other four team members: "We have to salute
our tough horses."
All four-Hoy's mighty grey Warmblood Darien Powers, Ryan's
16-year-old Thoroughbred Kibah Sandstone, Dutton's Thoroughbred
House Doctor, in his first four-star event, and Tinney's Thoroughbred
Jeepster-would have sensed the elation around them. Says Ryan:
"They will know they are champions." Keeping them sound had
team vet Denis Goulding averaging four hours sleep a night-though
he says Australian mounts are fairly hardy. The same could
be said of their riders. All four grew up in the bush chasing
farm stock among gum trees. "I just fanged around and went
really fast," recalls Tinney.
Their grit is matched by a system of team support perfected
over a decade. At the helm is Roycroft, under whom the sport
has blossomed-and will keep doing so. "Just after the medal
was won I said, We'll enjoy the moment," says team manager
Gareth McKeen, "but let's start planning for the next one."
McKeen attributes Australia's success to a jigsaw of factors:
"There's no magic formula," he says, "which is why it's hard
for other countries to copy us." They now have an even tougher
task ahead.
Phillip Dutton made it over the Devil's Back Billabong jump,
though he modestly gives some credit to the luck of the ladybird.
From big to small, from bold strategies to insects, the pieces
of the jigsaw once again fitted perfectly into place.
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October 2, 2000
| NO. 39
C
O V E R
T H E OLYMPIC GAMES
SWIMMING:
Putsch in the Pool
Heroes of Olympics past clear the lanes-and the winners' dais-for a new
generation of brilliant young swimmers
The 1,500 m: Australia's favorites fight it out for gold
COVER:
The Tao of Steve
Britain's Redgrave makes it a perfect fifth in the coxless fours
TRACK:
The Fastest Pair on Earth
Jones and Greene perform incredible feats of athleticism
EQUESTRIAN:
Tally Ho!
The three-day event falls to Australia's horsey foursome
CYCLING:
Pedal Power
Brett Aitken and Scott McGrory conquer all in the madison
ARCHERY:
Golden Arrows
Simon Fairweather empties his quiver into a bullseye
Shooting: Ups and downs in the double trap
WATER
POLO: No. 1 in Two Seconds
A stunning goal rockets the Australian women to victory
OLYMPIC
SCENE
U
S A
CAMPAIGN
2000:
The Gore-Bush Oil War
What's the right way to deal with the petroleum price hikes?
A
R T S
MUSIC:
Jimi is still jamming
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