Olympic Bronze Medal
London 2012 Success
Cian and the gelding Blue Loyd took the Olympic Bronze Medal in show jumping in August of 2012 at the London games after a thrilling jump-off.
He was the first Irish rider ever to achieve an Olympic medal in the sport.
One of just six to go clear from the 37 finalists in the first round of the Olympic Final, the duo picked up one time fault in the last round, while Gerco Schroder from the Netherlands, riding London had a time fault in the first round.
However, hopes of a gold for either rider were dashed when Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat and Nino des Buissononets posted the only zero score of the final round.
As Schroder and Cian were on an equal penalty score, under Olympic rules they then had to compete for medal position in a jump-off that immediately followed the final round.
Schroder went first on the shortened jump-off course with a clear round and when Cian’s turn came, he picked up the pace and was well ahead on time when Blue Loyd clipped the very last fence, putting four faults on the card and leaving Ireland in third place.
Cian took off his hat to the 20,000 spectators in the Greenwich Arena and praised Blue Loyd with a big pat. Together they had achieved Olympic success!
