Germans take gold as Irish finish eighth

Olympics - Equestrian : Germany, who controversially lost team gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, deservedly bounced back …

Olympics - Equestrian: Germany, who controversially lost team gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, deservedly bounced back this time around to score an emphatic victory under lights at Sha Tin racecourse in Hong Kong.

Adding the scores of their three top placed riders, Hinrich Romeike (Marius), Ingrid Klimke (Abraxxas) and Andreas Dibowski (Butts Leon), the Germans finished with 166.10 penalties.

In silver medal position came Australia (171.20) with Britain securing bronze (185.70). The Irish squad completed the three-day event in eighth spot (276.10), a totally clear round from Austin O'Connor and Hobby du Mee moving them up from 33rd to 27th.

Later today, the top 25 riders in the competition will tackle a second show jumping track to decide the destination of the individual medals. Romeike and Klimke presently top the leaderboard, separated by just .50 of a penalty.