Location   

Horsezone News

Rose Ruled Out of Second Olympic Games

Published on Monday, July 23, 2012 in 2012 London

Just days out from the start of the London Games, Shane Rose has received the devastating news that his second Olympic Games campaign has come to an end.

Rose’s horse Taurus has been ruled out of the team due to a leg injury. They will be replaced by travelling reserve Megan Jones and Allofasudden who travelled with Rose from Australia.

The inclusion of Megan Jones and Allofasudden is subject to IOC, LOCOG and FEI approval.

The Team vets had left the decision to the 11th hour to provide Rose and Taurus with every opportunity to get their start at the Games.

But after extensive veterinary examination and monitoring, have deemed the horse not recovered sufficiently  to withstand the extensive pressure of the Olympic Eventing competition.

Equestrian Section Manager Brett Mace said that the nature of the sport is that these sorts of injuries in horses can occur, which is why the travelling reserves are on hand.

“This is not uncommon for equestrian for a horse to sustain an injury of this nature close of a major campaign and while the injury is not serious, there is just not enough time for recovery with just under a week to go.

“There is no doubt this is a blow for the team and we feel for Shane who has worked for many years preparing Taurus for these Games. He is a hard working athlete who was a formidable part of our silver medal Beijing team.

“But we had to take the advice of our vets in relation to performance and also horse welfare and therefore Megan Jones and Allofasudden will be added to the team.  Megan has been working with her horse to ensure they are competition ready. She has the experience and proven track record to make it at this level of competition after finishing with a team silver medal and fourth individually at Beijing”.

“The team now needs to focus on finalising preparation, and while Shane will be a loss, we feel our medal chances remain just as strong,” he said.

The Eventing team will head into Greenwich Park on Tuesday ahead of the start of the competition on 28 July.

The last time reserves were substituted into the Eventing team was in 1992 and 1996 when Gill Rolton stepped into the teams  and on both occasions the teams went on to win team gold medals.

Quick Link

Photo: Derek O'Leary/EA


Be the first to comment on this article
You must be logged in to place comments