The individual show jumping at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place between 15 and 21 August, at the Hong Kong Sports Institute. Like all other equestrian events, the jumping competition was mixed gender, with both male and female athletes competing in the same division. There were 77 competitors from 29 nations. The event was won by Eric Lamaze of Canada, the nation's first victory in individual jumping and first medal of any color in the event since 1976. Silver went to Rolf-Göran Bengtsson of Sweden, that nation's first medal in individual jumping since 1932. American Beezie Madden, who had led through the three qualifying rounds in 2004 before a bad first final round put her in 30th overall in Athens, took the bronze medal in Beijing.

Background

This was the 23rd appearance of the event, which had first been held at the 1900 Summer Olympics and has been held at every Summer Olympics at which equestrian sports have been featured (that is, excluding 1896, 1904, and 1908). It is the oldest event on the current programme, the only one that was held in 1900.

Four of the top 11 riders (including ties for 10th place) from the 2004 Games returned: gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil, bronze medalist Marco Kutscher of Germany, fourth-place finisher Rolf-Göran Bengtsson of Sweden, and tenth-place finisher Nick Skelton of Great Britain. 1992 Olympic gold medalist Ludger Beerbaum of Germany also returned yet again. Jos Lansink of Belgium, a perennial Olympian like Beerbaum, was the reigning World Champion.

Azerbaijan, Bermuda, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates each made their debut in the event. The United States competed for the 20th time, matching absent France for most of any nation.

Four horses were banned from competing for doping, Bernardo Alves of Brazil, Christian Ahlmann of Germany, Denis Lynch of Ireland and Tony Andre Hansen of Norway.

Qualification

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) could qualify up to 4 horse and rider pairs; there were a total of 79 quota places. Each of the 16 nations qualified for the team jumping could enter 4 pairs in the individual event. The qualified teams were:

Hosts China and Hong Kong 5 teams from the World Equestrian Games: the Netherlands, the United States, Germany, Ukraine, and Switzerland 3 teams from the European Jumping Championship: Great Britain, Sweden, and Norway 3 teams from the Pan American Games: Brazil, Canada, and Mexico 1 team each from regional groups F and G at the World Games: Saudi Arabia and Australia 1 team from the group G qualification event: New Zealand

There were also 15 individual qualification places, with NOCs not earning team spots able to earn up to 2 individual spots. All of these places were assigned by regional groups: Groups A and B had two spots, assigned through rankings Group C had three spots, assigned through rankings Group D had one spot and Group E had 4 spots, assigned through the Pan American Games Group F had three spots, two assigned through the World Games and one through a qualification event Group G had two spots, one assigned through the World Games and one through a qualification event

Competition format

The competition used the five-round format introduced in 1992, with three rounds in the qualifying round and two rounds in the final. The first three rounds made up the qualifying stage. The second and third of those rounds were also used for the team jumping event. Following the qualifying rounds, the top 35 pairs moved on to the final stage. That stage was held over two rounds; only the top 20 pairs competed in the second of the two final rounds. Overall scores and final rankings were based on the sum of scores from both rounds of the final stage.

Schedule

All times were China Standard Time (UTC+8)

Date Time Round Friday, 15 August 2008 19:15 Qualifying round 1 Sunday, 17 August 2008 19:15 Qualifying round 2 Monday, 18 August 2008 19:15 Qualifying round 3 Thursday, 21 August 2008 19:1522:10 Final round AFinal round B

Results

Qualifying round

Round 1

RankRiderNationHorsePenaltiesJumpTime Total1 Christina Liebherr No Mercy 0 0 0 Pedro Veniss Un Blanc de Blancs 0 0 0 Taizo Sugitani California 0 0 0 Mac Cone Ole 0 0 0 Stein Endresen Le Beau 0 0 0 McLain Ward Sapphire 0 0 0 Patrick Lam Urban 0 0 0 Bernardo Alves Chupa Chup 0 0 0 Vincent Voorn Alpapillon-Armanie 0 0 0 Niklaus Schurtenberger Cantus 0 0 0 Eric Lamaze Hickstead 0 0 0 Will Simpson Carlsson vom Dach 0 0 0 Beezie Madden Authentic 0 0 014 Nick Skelton Russel 0 1 1 Laurie Lever Drossel Dan 0 1 1 Jill Henselwood Special Ed 0 1 1 Morten Djupvik Casino 0 1 1 Antonio Chedraui Don Porfirio 0 1 1 Jamal Rahimov Ionesco de Brekka 0 1 1 Eiken Sato Cayak 0 1 1 Ben Maher Rolette 0 1 1 Denis Lynch Lantinus 0 1 1 Steve Guerdat Jalisca Solier 0 1 1 Jos Lansink Cumano 0 1 1 Tony Andre Hansen Camiro 0 1 1 Federico Fernandez Zorro 0 1 127 Marc Houtzager Opium 0 2 2 Ramzy Al Duhami Allah Jabek 0 2 229 Angelique Hoorn O'Brien 4 0 4 Peter McMahon Genoa 4 0 4 Tim Stockdale Corlato 4 0 4 Pius Schwizer Nobless M 4 0 4 Kirk Webby Sitah 4 0 4 Edwina Alexander Itot du Chateau 4 0 4 Matt Williams Leconte 4 0 4 Ian Millar In Style 4 0 4 Rolf-Göran Bengtsson Ninja 4 0 438 Jean-Claude Van Geenberghe Quintus 4 1 5 Laura Kraut Cedric 4 1 5 Lotta Schultz Calibra II 4 1 5 Camila Benedicto Bonito Z 4 1 5 Gerco Schröder Monaco 4 1 5 John Whitaker Peppermill 4 1 5 Jillian Terceira Chaka III 4 1 545 Marco Kutscher Cornet Obolensky 4 2 6 Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum Shutterfly 4 2 6 Kenneth Cheng Can Do 4 2 648 Peter Eriksson Jaguar Mail 8 0 8 Lyubov Kochetova Ilion Kilen 8 0 8 Helena Lundback Erbblume 8 0 851 Pablo Barrios Sinatra 8 1 9 Juan Andres Rodriguez Orestus 8 1 9 Enrique González Frida 8 1 9 Li Zhenqiang Jumpy des Fontaines 4 5 955 Christian Ahlmann Coster 8 2 10 Huang Zuping Pablo II 8 2 10 Abdullah Al Saud Obelix 8 2 10 Bjorn Nagel Magic Bengtsson 8 2 10 Ludger Beerbaum All Inclusive 8 2 1060 Faisal Al Shalan Wido 8 3 11 Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum Kalaska de Semilly 8 3 11 Kamal Bahamdan Rivaal 8 3 11 63 Alberto Michan Chinobampo Lavita 8 4 12 64 Geir Gulliksen Cattani 12 1 1366 Jose Larocca Royal Power 12 2 14 Samantha Lam Tresor 12 2 14 Bruce Goodin Yamato 12 2 14 68 Zhao Zhiwen Tadonia 16 1 17 69 Oleksandr Onyshchenko Codar 16 2 18 70 Ibrahim Bisharat Sam-Sam 16 3 19 71 Manuel Torres Chambacunero 20 1 21 72 Katharina Offel Lord Spezi 20 7 27 73 Zhang Bin Coertis 28 2 30 74 Sharn Wordley Rockville 44 3 47 75 Karim El Zoghby Aladin 48 4 52 76 Katie McVean Forest 72 0 72 — Rodrigo Pessoa Rufus 0 1

Round 2

RankRiderNationHorsePenalties NotesJumpTime Round 1 Total1 McLain Ward Sapphire 0 0 0 0 Eric Lamaze Hickstead 0 0 0 0 3 Denis Lynch Lantinus 0 1 1 2 Jos Lansink Cumano 0 1 1 2 Tony Andre Hansen Camiro 0 1 1 2 6 Marc Houtzager Opium 0 1 2 3 7 Rolf-Göran Bengtsson Ninja 0 0 4 4 Stein Endresen Le Beau 4 0 0 4 Christina Liebherr No Mercy 4 0 0 4 Edwina Alexander Itot du Chateau 0 0 4 4 Niklaus Schurtenberger Cantus 4 0 0 4 12 Ben Maher Rolette 4 0 1 5 Steve Guerdat Jalisca Solier 4 0 1 5 14 Ramzy Al Duhami Allah Jabek 4 1 2 7 15 Angelique Hoorn O'Brien 4 0 4 8 Tim Stockdale Corlato 4 0 4 8 Pius Schwizer Nobless M 4 0 4 8 Will Simpson Carlsson vom Dach 8 0 0 8 Matt Williams Leconte 4 0 4 8 Ian Millar In Style 4 0 4 8 21 Patrick Lam Urban 8 1 0 9 Antonio Chedraui Don Porfirio 8 0 1 9 Nick Skelton Russel 8 0 1 9 Laura Kraut Cedric 4 0 5 9 25 Lotta Schultz Calibra II 4 1 5 10 Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum Shutterfly 4 0 6 10 Federico Fernandez Zorro 8 1 1 10 28 Beezie Madden Authentic 8 3 0 11 29 Kirk Webby Sitah 8 0 4 12 Mac Cone Ole 12 0 0 12 Bernardo Alves Chupa Chup 12 0 0 12 32 Jean-Claude Van Geenberghe Quintus 8 0 5 13 Morten Djupvik Casino 12 0 1 13 34 Peter Eriksson Jaguar Mail 8 0 8 16 Vincent Voorn Alpapillon-Armanie 16 0 0 16 36 Taizo Sugitani California 16 1 0 17 Laurie Lever Drossel Dan 16 0 1 17 Gerco Schröder Monaco 12 0 5 17 39 Juan Andres Rodriguez Orestus 8 1 9 18 Christian Ahlmann Coster 8 0 10 18 Ludger Beerbaum All Inclusive 8 0 10 18 Camila Benedicto Bonito Z 12 1 5 18 43 Marco Kutscher Cornet Obolensky 12 1 6 19 Bjorn Nagel Magic Bengtsson 8 1 10 19 Jill Henselwood Special Ed 16 2 1 19 46 Helena Lundback Erbblume 12 0 8 20 Peter McMahon Genoa 16 0 4 20 48 Alberto Michan Chinobampo Lavita 8 1 12 21 49 Pablo Barrios Sinatra 12 2 9 23 50 Eiken Sato Cayak 24 0 1 25 Enrique Gonzalez Frida 16 0 9 25 Geir Gulliksen Cattani 12 0 13 25 53 Latifa bin Ahmed Al Maktoum Kalaska de Semilly 12 3 11 26 Kamal Bahamdan Rivaal 12 3 11 26 Bruce Goodin Yamato 12 0 14 26 56 Kenneth Cheng Can Do 20 1 6 27 57 Faisal Al Shalan Wido 16 2 11 29 58 Jose Larocca Royal Power 16 0 14 30 59 Abdullah Al Saud Obelix 28 2 10 40 60 Ibrahim Bisharat Sam-Sam 20 32 19 41 Ljubov Kochetova Ilion Kilen 28 5 8 41 62 Manuel Torres Chambacunero 20 2 21 43 Samantha Lam Tresor 28 1 14 43 64 Katharina Offel Lord Spezi 16 1 27 44 65 Huang Zuping Pablo II 36 0 10 46 66 Li Zhenqiang Jumpy des Fontaines 32 7 9 48 67 Zhao Zhiwen Tadonia 32 0 17 49 68 Zhang Bin Coertis 24 7 30 61 69 Sharn Wordley Rockville 24 1 47 72 70 Katie McVean Forest 40 5 72 117 – Pedro Veniss Un Blanc de Blancs Eliminated 0 Jamal Rahimov Ionesco de Brekka Eliminated 1 Jillian Terceira Chaka III Eliminated 5 Oleksandr Onyshchenko Codar Eliminated 18 — John Whitaker Peppermill 5 Karim El Zoghby Aladin 52 — Rodrigo Pessoa Rufus 0 0 1 1 ,

Round 3

RankRiderNationHorsePenalties NotesJumpTime Round 1+2 Total 1 Tony Andre Hansen Camiro 0 1 2 3 2 Jos Lansink Cumano 0 2 2 4 McLain Ward Sapphire 4 0 0 4 Edwina Alexander Itot du Chateau 0 0 4 4 Eric Lamaze Hickstead 4 0 0 4 6 Ben Maher Rolette 0 0 5 5 7 Denis Lynch Lantinus 4 2 2 8 Marc Houtzager Opium 4 1 3 8 Ian Millar In Style 0 0 8 8 Rolf-Göran Bengtsson Ninja 4 0 4 8 11 Laura Kraut Cedric 0 0 9 9 12 Steve Guerdat Jalisca Solier 4 1 5 10 13 Niklaus Schurtenberger Cantus 8 0 4 12 14 Pius Schwizer Nobless M 4 1 8 13 15 Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum Shutterfly 4 0 10 14 16 Beezie Madden Authentic 4 0 11 15 17 Ramzy Al Duhami Allah Jabek 8 1 7 16 Angelique Hoorn O'Brien 8 0 8 16 Stein Endresen Le Beau 12 0 4 16 Tim Stockdale Corlato 8 0 8 16 Will Simpson Carlsson vom Dach 8 0 8 16 22 Jean-Claude Van Geenberghe Quintus 4 0 13 17 Antonio Chedraui Don Porfirio 8 0 9 17 Morten Djupvik Casino 4 0 13 17 25 Jill Henselwood Special Ed 0 0 19 19 26 Bernardo Alves Chupa Chup 8 0 12 20 Peter Eriksson Jaguar Mail 4 0 16 20 28 Laurie Lever Drossel Dan 4 0 17 21 Gerco Schröder Monaco 4 0 17 21 30 Christian Ahlmann Coster 4 0 18 22 Nick Skelton Russel 12 1 9 22 32 Kirk Webby Sitah 12 0 12 24 Federico Fernandez Zorro 12 2 10 24 Ludger Beerbaum All Inclusive 4 2 18 24 35 Matt Williams Leconte 16 1 8 25 36 Taizo Sugitani California 8 1 17 26 37 Camila Benedicto Bonito Z 8 1 18 27 Christina Liebherr No Mercy 20 3 4 27 39 Lotta Schultz Calibra II 20 0 10 30 40 Juan Andres Rodriguez Orestus 12 1 18 31 41 Helena Lundback Erbblume 16 1 20 37 42 Marco Kutscher Cornet Obolensky 16 3 19 38 43 Pablo Barrios Sinatra 16 4 23 43 Vincent Voorn Alpapillon-Armanie 24 3 16 43 45 Patrick Lam Urban 28 8 9 45 46 Alberto Michan Chinobampo Lavita 24 1 21 46 — Mac Cone Ole 12 Bjorn Nagel Magic Bengtsson 19 Peter McMahon Genoa 20 — Rodrigo Pessoa Rufus 4 2 1 7 ,

Final round

Round A