I’m curious what happened to Melanie McCann. She was ranked very well after the ride, and I watched a bit of the run/shoot but I admit I don’t understand how the scoring works with the combined - how did she drop so low after the riding?
[QUOTE=Blugal;8808093]
I’m curious what happened to Melanie McCann. She was ranked very well after the ride, and I watched a bit of the run/shoot but I admit I don’t understand how the scoring works with the combined - how did she drop so low after the riding?[/QUOTE]
If you go here, and click on ‘results’ and then the + after the athlete’s name, you can see the individual running times and shooting times.
Melanie is not a strong combined athlete. She’s mostly middle-of-the-pack, and lacks the run to really attack the course. Meanwhile, there are some outstanding runners who can really attack the course and give chase. The best of all are the ones who can shoot well and run fast. 
These are the athletes who can win from well back in the field, like the previous Olympic champion, Laura Asadauskaite, who had the fastest combined time yesterday by 20 seconds, but was undone by her not-her-fault 0 score in the ride. Had she got round on the horse, she would have been definitely in the medals, most likely gold. She’s that fast.
But for someone like Mel, the best she can do is try to hang on to her position at the start of the combined. Careful shooting, running steadily on pace. Yesterday, there were just too many better combined athletes close enough to her in the standings to pass her in the run.
Like most sports, pentathlon can be quite unforgiving.
I found this photo of Donna’s horse, crashing into a standard as the Cuban girl fell.
A horse should not be sent out for another round after having that happen to them. It is cruel and unfair to the horse, and unfair to Donna.
[QUOTE=JER;8808395]
I found this photo of Donna’s horse, crashing into a standard as the Cuban girl fell.
A horse should not be sent out for another round after having that happen to them. It is cruel and unfair to the horse, and unfair to Donna.[/QUOTE]
Ouch! I agree. I think riding in reverse order would probably be more beneficial in that a) top ranked athletes get horses that haven’t been ridden poorly and probably have a little more gas in the tank, and b) will give them a couple extra minutes of rest before the combined. Maybe not a ton, but I’m sure every extra minute of rest is probably welcome before all that running. :winkgrin:
How shallow are the jump cups? Methinks if they used the same ones from showjumping, there would be just as many rails if the fences were lowered. But… JMO.
[QUOTE=Mickey the Marcher;8808035]
I just watched replays of the showjumping. :eek::eek:
This is nothing short of horse torture.
I mean, there’s bad riding… then there’s not having a damn clue how to ride.
Wouldn’t a dressage test be better?[/QUOTE]
Seriously, normally I’m all positive, but I can’t see anything good about this.
I actually can’t believe this is acceptable in the OLYMPICS.
Pitiful riding and so dangerous to the horses. I watched the 2012 London Women’s jumping and I couldn’t keep watching, I felt sick.
Who would ever loan their horse out to that? They’d make it 3 strides before my horse bucked them straight off!
:no:
I am all for tradition and equestrian sports in the Olympics. But I think it might be best to recognize the different world today (rather than when Olympics was a amateur only event, then riding was a skill that “gentlemen” would have). How about substituting a cycling event for the horse riding portion? Fairer for athletes from poorer Third World countries where horses are only for the very elite, less costly for organziers and surely better for the horses.
[QUOTE=FatDinah;8808716]
I am all for tradition and equestrian sports in the Olympics. But I think it might be best to recognize the different world today (rather than when Olympics was a amateur only event, then riding was a skill that “gentlemen” would have). How about substituting a cycling event for the horse riding portion? Fairer for athletes from poorer Third World countries where horses are only for the very elite, less costly for organziers and surely better for the horses.[/QUOTE]
I would think the better option would be to enforce the riding certification more strictly. Plenty of the riders were perfectly well prepared for the riding; it doesn’t have to be pretty. The handful who weren’t shouldn’t have been allowed to compete and give the sport a bad name for the rest of them.
As an aside, why are the men’s pentathletes so good looking? Is that always true? Even within the overall pool of healthy athletic young men at the Olympics they stand out. I thought the above poster was kidding but i’m now watching the bonus fencing round and laughing out loud each each new one is introduced.
As a second aside, I know that the athletes find the bonus round ridiculous and unnecessary but as someone who is not familiar with the sport, it’s a nice preview before the riding and the way the bracket works is kind of exciting.
[QUOTE=NCRider;8809259]
I would think the better option would be to enforce the riding certification more strictly. Plenty of the riders were perfectly well prepared for the riding; it doesn’t have to be pretty. The handful who weren’t shouldn’t have been allowed to compete and give the sport a bad name for the rest of them. [/QUOTE]
From what I understand, there were knowledgeable people in the warm-up more or less pleading with the TD to not allow those people to proceed in the competition ring. The TD, at one point, said he’d pull them, but he didn’t.
This is also true of the women. Gorgeousness abounds. I think it’s because pentathletes are all-rounders, closer to ‘real-people’ athletes than in many sports. Not extremes in any way.
A lot of them are very accomplished outside of sport, too.
It’s a time suck on the competition day and is fundamentally unfair to the top finishers in the fence. The lower-ranked fencers can earn multiple points by winning their way up the ladder. IIRC, GB’s Sam Murray won 7 bonus round bouts to earn 7 more points (not very meaningful, about the same as winning one bout in the regular round). But the top person, who only fences the second-to-top person, only gets to have one bout in the bonus round. Which means the real ‘bonus’ is in giving the worst fencers an opportunity for gaining more points relative to the best fencers. That’s just plain dumb.
Also, in a regular competition, it keeps athletes sitting around outside in fencing clothes (hot!) and takes away from the time they have to walk the riding course. This is especially true for the top-ranked fencers. Which is why you’ll see people not even bother to try to win, they just want to get out of there.
I’m about 1/3 of the way through the men’s riding and overall it looks OK so far. I wonder if people who find the whole thing horrifying are used to only watching hunters and jumpers who’ve been prepped by the trainer and big grand prix SJ. It reminds me a lot of ISHA. With the exception of the few riders who truly shouldn’t be out there at all, I’ve certainly seen worse riding in SJ at some events I’ve been to. And those people are on their own horses.
[QUOTE=NCRider;8809314]
I’ve certainly seen worse riding in SJ at some events I’ve been to. And those people are on their own horses.[/QUOTE]
I very much agree with this. I’ve seen far worse overall riding in adult jumpers classes at big h/j shows. I was at one show where the jumps were at least 6" smaller than listed, and four riders took out the entire wall, standards and shrubbery included. If the jumps had been up to height, there would have been mass carnage.
And these were people who competed quite often, all riding their own horses. Unlike the pentathletes, most were also very unfit.
[QUOTE=JER;8809322]
I very much agree with this. I’ve seen far worse overall riding in adult jumpers classes at big h/j shows. I was at one show where the jumps were at least 6" smaller than listed, and four riders took out the entire wall, standards and shrubbery included. If the jumps had been up to height, there would have been mass carnage.
And these were people who competed quite often, all riding their own horses. Unlike the pentathletes, most were also very unfit.[/QUOTE]
I’ve just finished the men’s riding, and overall I thought the riding was better than the women’s. If I recall correctly from prior discussions, that’s not normally the case. If so, what was different this time? Have the men just upped their game? Was it the type of horse’s chosen? Would they be used to being ridden by men? Or was it just that none of the men were total horror shows so the horses didn’t get sour for the second rider?
[QUOTE=NCRider;8809377]
Would they be used to being ridden by men? [/QUOTE]
In my similar wonderings, this was kind of where I landed as something that seemed like a part of the explanation. As the horses are apparently military horses, it seems like maybe they would be accustomed to being ridden with more strength. A lot of the horses were used both days.
Yes! I’m the one who mentioned it upthread. The funny thing is my husband and I had the livestream on, and I wasn’t even really watching (just waiting for the jumping) when he started making comments about how good looking the men were. There were about ten in a row who were like “cover of GQ” handsome, and I too started laughing out loud.
[QUOTE=JER;8808041]
Pentathlon riding used to be much more difficult. Check out this video of the 1984 Olympics – the riding starts at about 5:40. Now that’s a real course! Also, please don’t miss the US rider who is doing his best to imitate Rodney Jenkins.[/QUOTE]
OMG. There are practically no houses in the surrounding area! That was a fun blast from the past–thanks for posting it. I was there that day.
[QUOTE=JER;8809322]
I very much agree with this. I’ve seen far worse overall riding in adult jumpers classes at big h/j shows. I was at one show where the jumps were at least 6" smaller than listed, and four riders took out the entire wall, standards and shrubbery included. If the jumps had been up to height, there would have been mass carnage.
And these were people who competed quite often, all riding their own horses. Unlike the pentathletes, most were also very unfit.[/QUOTE]
Agree.
I used to assistant train for someone at Old Salem, and when they held shows we would always find time to watch the puddle jumpers school and go. Some of the performances put in by trainers and clients alike were just amazing.
Contact pentathlon ontario at pentathlon2011@gmail.com or follow Pentathlon Ontario’s Facebook page.
Note some of the horses used for the women’s competition were not used for the men’s competition. Notably several horses that involved eliminations for the women.
Contact pentathlon ontario at pentathlon2011@gmail.com or follow Pentathlon Ontario’s Facebook page or www.pentathloncanada.ca
[QUOTE=FalseImpression;8807614]
Fergus is 30 min. from me. If possible, I’d love to go watch!![/QUOTE]
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Contact pentathlon ontario at pentathlon2011@gmail.com or follow Pentathlon Ontario’s Facebook page, or www.pentathloncanada.ca
[QUOTE=NCRider;8809377]
I’ve just finished the men’s riding, and overall I thought the riding was better than the women’s. If I recall correctly from prior discussions, that’s not normally the case. If so, what was different this time? Have the men just upped their game? Was it the type of horse’s chosen? Would they be used to being ridden by men? Or was it just that none of the men were total horror shows so the horses didn’t get sour for the second rider?[/QUOTE]
Some of the horses that got eliminated the day before were not used for the men’s competition the following day. Most others were.
