WAIS equestrian scholarship holder Sonja Johnson has finished fourth at the Adelaide CCI4* at the Australian international Three Day Event this past weekend.
Johnson competing on Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison – tallied a combined total of 59.40 penalty points across dressage, cross country and show jumping to reassert her status as one of Australia’s leading equestrian competitors.
Olympian Shane Rose highlighted the competition, claiming first and second position with his horses CP Qualified (first) and Virgil, whilst Clarke Johnstone was third on Balmoral Sensation.
Rose – who won Team Eventing silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics alongside Sonja Johnson – had the disappointment of missing the 2012 London Olympic Games after his horse became lame in the lead up, forcing his withdrawal.
His results in Adelaide have put him in strong contention to compete in Rio.
Rose created a significant penalty points gap for himself on mount CP Qualified on the opening day of competition, accruing just 42.10 points, which he successfully protected over days two and three. This buffer allowed Rose to maintain first position, despite four penalty points in the show jumping round. He closed competition on 49.30 points, whilst riding Virgil to second place overall, on 50.80 penalty points.
Johnson was fourth on 59.40 points, which represented a spectacular fightback from a difficult dressage campaign on day one that saw the dual Olympian total 58.20 penalty points and sit 15th overall heading into day two.
Using all her experience and talents, Johnson produced two excellent days of riding, to guide Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison to near faultless efforts in cross country and show jumping to earn an important top five finish.
At Olympic level, it is no longer known as Three Day Eventing, by virtue of the schedule having shifted to competition over four days.
Olympic competition features both Individual and Team events, with men and women competing against one another on equal terms.
Dressage fills the first two days of the Eventing competition. Each horse and rider performs a dressage test in front of a panel of judges. The judges’ scores are converted into penalty points, which are carried forward to the next stage of the competition.
Day three is given over to the cross-country test containing up to 45 jumps. Every horse/rider combination is given penalty points for jumping errors and time penalties, which are added to any penalty points awarded during the dressage test to give a total score.
Day four is the jumping tests, with riders and horses given penalty points for jumping errors and time penalties, which are added to their previous dressage and cross-country scores to determine the overall rankings.
The first jumping test will decide the placings in the Team event; after this has been completed, there’s a second jumping test to determine the medal placegetters of the Individual competition.
Australia will send a team of four riders to Rio, with Eventing historically one of the nation’s most successful Olympic sports.
Australia has won six gold, three silver and two bronze in equestrian disciplines at Olympic level, with the most recent success, the Team Eventing silver won in 2008.
