New Zealand's first Medal.

It is fortunate that nobody else depends on my performance as today is a bit slow.Two late nights following the action of the Three day event team in its Olympic quest has left this house somewhat dazed and slow.Two old hands, Todd and Nicholson, two on their first foray, Jonelle Richards and Jock (Jonathon) Padget,  plus Caroline Powell on a 20 something year old mount sneaked past Sweden by a little more than one showjumping rail to win team bronze at Greenwich.
Sadly Andrew Nicholson of Spinning Rhombus fame missed out by a similar margin on an individual Bronze  finishing a very strong 4th

Nicholson's buildup for what turned out to be a crucial Dressage test was upset by an equipment failure of a judge's box during a thunderstorm creating a 10 minute delay in what at this level can be very critical.
The X-country that New Zealand really needed to be much more technically demanding than that provided  was much more suited to the very strong Germans and the Brits. Technical comments man assisting the sky coverage for New Zealand afficionados, ex international Andrew Scott from Feilding, described it as barely a Four Star course which the Olympic course is supposed to be.  Badminton and Burliegh championship courses for the professional circut are deemed to be too demanding for Olympic competition, so much for  the olympics being the ultimate achievement.

Nick K was very close with his prediction.

Well done New Zealand