London (GBR), 29 July 2012 – Japan’s Yoshiaki Oiwa and Noonday de Conde produced a sensational test to take the individual lead in the closing stages of Eventing dressage at the London 2012 Olympic Games in Greenwich Park (GBR) today. The quiet-spoken 36-year-old admitted afterwards that he could hardly believe it. “I’m a bit shocked,” he said at the post-competition press conference. “Nobody expected it – as you can see there are not many Japanese media here!” On an extraordinary day, it was Italy’s Stefano Brecciaroli who slotted into second place while New Zealand’s Mark Todd moved into third. Both Oiwa and Todd’s results proved pivotal for their teams, with Japan rising to fill sixth place in the team rankings behind the Kiwis, who go into tomorrow’s cross-country phase in joint-fourth along with Sweden.
As it stands tonight, the host nation lies third behind Australia in second while the defending champions from Germany are already out in front. But with just three penalty points separating the first two, and the British less than five points adrift, stalked by the Swedes and Kiwis just 1.2 points further behind, there is very little in it. As German Chef d’Equipe and Coach, Hans Melzer, said this evening, “The four top riders are just one point away from each other and the teams are so close. They might as well start tomorrow on a zero score. Psychologically today’s result is good and our team did a super job and I’m happy for that, but tomorrow is another day.”
Continue reading The Quiet Man from Japan Steals Eventing Dressage Limelight