LONDON, Aug. 25 -- Ireland claimed jumping gold at the Longines FEI European Championships 2017 at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Friday.
After the 22-year-old Bertram Allen had withdrew from the competition following a fall from his grey stallion Hector van d'Abdijhoeve, Ireland's three riders Shane Sweetnam (36), Denis Lynch (41) and Cian O'Connor (37) clinched victory with three superb clear rounds.
Allen joined Chef d'Equipe Rodrigo Pessoa on the medal podium as Ireland took the title for only the second time in the 60-year history of these Championships, their previous success recorded at Arnhem, Netherlands, in 2001.
Sweden claimed silver and Switzerland took bronze.
O'Connor said after sealing the victory, "We spoke with Rodrigo about it last night, we thought the lights might work to our advantage, be a bit spooky and might catch out some horses.
"Our three stallions are all very brave and scopey, and the lights nearly helped them. We were quietly confident that we could do the business, and obviously Shane (Chaqui Z) had a really tough job going first... I was outside warming up when Denis (All Star) jumped clear and I thought - I have to match that now! I don't even remember the round, it was all kind of a blur. But I do remember going through the finish."