Triple Olympic gold medallist Andrew Hoy not selected for Australia’s equestrian team

TRIPLE Olympic gold medallist Andrew Hoy has expressed his disappointment at being dropped from contention for an eighth Olympics appearance.

Andrew Hoy competing in Germany earlier this year.

TRIPLE Olympic gold medallist Andrew Hoy has expressed his disappointment at being dropped from contention for an eighth Olympics appearance.

Hoy, 57, took to Twitter after he missed the cut from Equestrian Australia’s long-list to a staging camp later this month which will help decide the four-rider eventing team to compete in Rio.

Andrew Hoy competing in Germany earlier this year.

Hoy was in Australia’s gold-medal three-day event team at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics, also winning a silver medal in the individual event at the Sydney Games.

EA named eight riders, Stuart Tinney, Samantha Birch, Christopher Burton, Sam Griffiths, Sonja Johnson, Bill Levett, Shane Rose and Paul Tapner, to attend a pre-Games staging camp in Britain from July 24.

#RoadToRio #OneTeam pic.twitter.com/su5M5MktCo

— Andrew Hoy (@HoyEventing) July 6, 2016

England-based Hoy and his horse Rutherglen placed 11th in the Luhmuhlen four-star event last month.

Levett, riding Alexander NJ, one of his staging camp horses, was the leading Australian at that event in Germany, finishing sixth.

Tinney, Burton, Levett and Rose will each take two horses to the camp, from which four riders and horses will be nominated to the Australian Olympic Committee.

“I am very disappointed not to have made it from the long list to the Australian team for the Rio Olympic Games,’’ Hoy wrote on Twitter.

Triple gold medallist Andrew Hoy has missed the chance to compete at an eighth Olympics.

“Nevertheless I have four lovely and sound horses competing at three-star and four-star level and will focus on the individual autumn campaigns in Europe.

“Best of luck to the whole Australian contingent led by the wonderful (chef de mission) Kitty Chiller.’’

Australia qualified a team of four riders for the 2016 Olympics with performances at the 2014 World Equestrian Games.

Hoy, who hails from Culcairn in NSW, concluded his statement by quoting Winston Churchill: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.’’