Man oh man! Is that woman the ultimate competitor or what? She’s always been a favorite of mine, but I was so impressed with her grit this Olympics.
My brother and I were chatting on the phone during the team rounds. Beezie came in as the U.S. anchor. She needed to go clear for the gold, four faults and we’d have a jump off with Canada, more than that and we had the silver. So what would Beezie do? She’d had a rough time in the previous round. She could have very well fallen apart. My brother thought she’d settle for silver. Not Beezie! She rode the horse she had under her at that moment. Not the horse she’d had the day before.
Then came the unfortunate rail. Again, what would she do? Go conservative and maybe have a time fault or two? After all, she did have that rough go earlier, and a silver isn’t all that bad (heck, no U.S. team had yet been on the podium this Olympics), and finishing on four would only put us into a jump off. My brother worried that she’d quit under the pressure. Again, not Beezie! She rode every stride confidently and aggressively. As it turns out, she didn’t need to ride in the jump off, but I’m sure she could have pulled it off it had come to that!
Then came today with the individual medals. Beezie was in a jump off for the bronze. What would she do? Just put in a good round to end the competition or go for being on the podium. There was a case to be made for the former. She’d already won one gold, and this was for the bronze. It was her 6th course. Shutterfly had put in a blistering fast time that couldn’t be beat riding the normal course. Mclain had already tried the “jump the decorations” option, but it didn’t work so well for him.
Again, anyone who thinks she wouldn’t go for it must not know Beezie! How awesome to see her really stretch her limits to go for the bronze. That woman has grit.
I just think she’s awesome! Very inspiring!
