One Small Surprise as Show Jumping Selectors Rubber Stamp Olympic Team

There were few surprises tonight as Canada’s Olympic show jumping team, which had been widely seen as a foregone conclusion, was announced. Predictions held mostly true, with the exception of a surprise strategic twist that shifts the line-up slightly.

The four rider/horse combinations named to the Olympic team are Eric Lamaze on Hickstead; Jill Henselwood on Special Ed; Mac Cone on Ole; and Ian Millar on In Style.

In a seemingly unprecedented move, Millar has also been named first alternate, partnered with Redefin. The unusual strategy insures that Millar, of Perth, Ontario, has a near-certain opportunity to compete. By being the first alternate, Millar will remain on the team if anything should happen that prevents In Style from travelling to the Games. If that happens, his mount will be substituted, instead of substituting Millar himself. However, Millar will take only one horse to the Games. Once the horses enter their pre-travel quarantine the next alternate will step into the travelling alternate role and become the first alternate. The Jump Canada High Performance Committee has named Jonathan Asselin, on Rayana Chiara, to that berth. Asselin, of Calgary, was also an alternate in 2000 and was called on to ride. He finished an impressive 15th in his first Games, after being added on short notice. Mario Deslauriers, of Bromont, Quebec, on Paradigm is the next alternate on the list. Deslauriers is a two-time Olympian and jumped off for the individual bronze medal in 1984.

For Lamaze and Henselwood, it will be their first Olympic Games. Both have represented Canada in Pan American Games and World Championships. “The Olympics is the pinnacle, in any sport”, Henselwood, of Oxford Mills, Ontario, said. “It’s what you dream about from when you first start to compete.” Special Ed was also her partner when she earned the Pan American Games individual gold and team silver medals last year.

Lamaze, who is ranked number four in the world, said, “My goal is to do well to pay back all the people who have helped me get to this point.” He is hailed as a gold medal contender and considered among Canada’s top-ten athletes, in any sport. “Hickstead is a great horse”, he added. “He’s a once-in-a-lifetime horse”. Lamaze and Hickstead claimed individual bronze and team silver at the 2007 Pan American Games.

Cone, of King City, Ontario, is a veteran of one prior Olympic Games, in 1996, and was part of Canada’s silver medal Pan Am team last year.

“I’m very lucky to have two Olympic-quality horses”, Millar said. He will be competing in his ninth Olympic Games, which will equal the world record for Olympic appearances. At 61, he will also become the oldest show jumper in Olympic history. “Of all the Olympic Games I’ve been to, this is the first time I can say that I have two possible mounts. And with Jill, Eric, Mac and Jonathan, I think we have a really solid team.” Both Millar’s mounts are owned by sport horse breeder and former rider Sue Grange, of Cheltenham, Ontario.