Cealy Tetley photo
Mac Cone, Ian Millar, Eric Lamaze and Jill Henselwood celebrate their silver medal win in the equestrian show jumping team event Monday.
Olympics
August 19, 2008 09:50 AM
John Cudmore, Staff Writer
The Ian Millar story stretches over nine Olympics Games.
For Eric Lamaze, it’s been a bit of a wait, too.
Both men were preparing to celebrate the removal of demons past Monday night in Hong Kong after combining with Jill Henselwood and Mac Cone to overcome long odds for a silver medal in team equestrian show jumping at the Beijing Olympics.
The star-crossed Lamaze, who resides in Schomberg, proved to be the anchor in Canada’s success, turning in flawless scores in the opening two rounds of qualifying and again in a jump-off against the United States as the Canadians rallied despite lacking maximum horsepower for the final day of the competition.
The Canadians were reduced to three riders when Cone’s mount, Ole, suffered a minor injury in the preliminary rounds. Teams are permitted four riders with the low score tossed out.
“It’s really exciting,” said the 39-year-old Lamaze, in a teleconference from Hong Kong held Monday morning Eastern Time. “What a great team we have to do the performance today. I don’t know if it’s ever been done before with three riders.”
But after overcoming the odds to move from fourth to a tie for first place, the numbers game caught up to the Canadians in the jump-off.
“Yesterday, we fought a hard battle and ended up in the hunt and within striking range,” said Cone, who resides in King City, of Sunday’s opening round. “Today my horse couldn’t go but we have a great, great team and that’s what team is all about. They covered my ass and we won a silver medal.”
Millar, who is celebrating his first medal in his ninth Olympics, recognized the team effort to pull together against the odds.
“We had some real synergy,” said the 61-year-old veteran. “We had some issues around the team.
“Jill had a regrettable ride (four faults in the jump-off), but Eric and I did what we were supposed to do.
“When you go after the others with three and they have four, it is very difficult.”
Lamaze will be forever shadowed by his past. He was banned for the Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) Games due to positive drug tests.
“When you’ve been through some difficult times, when you get here, you remember some moments you’re not so proud of,” said Lamaze. “But it just shows anyone can make a comeback. I’m proud of what I have achieved in the past eight years.”
On the topic of long waits, the silver medal marked the first equestrian medal for Canada since 1968 when Tom Gayford, Jim Day and Jim Elder won gold for Canada at Mexico City in the team event.
In individual action, Lamaze is tied for second while Millar shares eighth place. Henselwood is 26th. The top 35 riders are qualified for Thursday’s final round in which all competitors start from scratch.