Meet our Tokyo Olympics eventing team contenders

Chris Burton is among the main Australian Olympic eventing team contenders for Tokyo — but there are others with strong claims.

Christopher Burton rides Coup de Coeur in cross country. Burton is in the mix for Tokyo.

While Australia’s top dressage and showjumping riders have yet to come home with an Olympic medal the eventing teams have made an impact since 1956.

The team for Tokyo that will be announced on June 25 will have a lot to live up to.

The first Australian competitors rode at Stockholm instead of the Melbourne Games due to the strict Australian quarantine requirements for horses.

The horses had a six-week voyage to England and the team of David Wood, Ernie Barker, Brian Crago, John Winchester and Wyatt (Bunty) Thompson, who had never competed internationally, finished fourth.

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported at the time “For a country that never before competed in Olympic equestrian events, Australia’s effort was remarkable. It will enhance Australia’s reputation for horsemanship throughout the world.”

Just four years later at Rome, Laurie Morgan and Neale Lavis won the gold and silver medals individually and the injured Bill Roycroft, won the team event.

Bronze medals followed in the team event in Mexico City in 1968 and Montreal in 1976 then, in Barcelona 1992, Matt Ryan won the individual gold medal and combined with Andrew Hoy and Gillian Rolton to win the team competition.

The team won again in Atlanta in 1996 with Andrew Hoy, Rolton, Wendy Schaeffer, and Phillip Dutton, and made it three golds in a row at Sydney in 2000 with Matt Ryan, Andrew Hoy, Philip Dutton and, Stuart Tinney. Hoy also won the silver medal in the individual event in Sydney.

In Beijing 2008, the eventing team of Clayton Fredericks, Sonja Johnson, Megan Jones and, Shane Rose won silver.

Chris Burton, Sam Griffiths, Shane Rose and Stuart Tinney won Australia its seventh Olympic team eventing medal at Rio 2016, continuing Australia’s strong tradition in the sport. Griffith and Burton narrowly missed individual event medals, finishing fourth and fifth.

The fight for a place in the Tokyo Games team is strong with Chris Burton, Andrew Hoy, Shane Rose and Stuart Tinney the main contenders, but Kevin McNab Sammi Birch and Hazel Shannon also have strong claims.

Remarkably, two thirds of the United States eventing team are ex pat Australians, with Philip Dutton and Boyd Martin riding with Elisabeth Halliday Sharp at Tokyo.

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