Equestrianism: Olympics doubt as Britons falter

Britain's once proud record in showjumping took a further nose-dive yesterday at the World Equestrian Games, with the British quartet finishing the first round of the team final in 16th place and therefore failing to make the second round between the top 10 nations.

France carried off the team title with typical Gallic flair – defeating Sweden whose youngest rider, 26-year-old Helena Lundback, jumped one of seven double clear rounds. Belgium filled third place, thwarting the medal expectations of Germany and the United States who finished fourth and fifth.

Peter Wylde may yet represent the United States on the podium, since he is leading in the individual contest which continues tomorrow, before the horse-swapping final between the top four riders takes place on Sunday. Eric Navet, who won the title for France in 1990, is a close second – with Sweden's Lundback in third place.

Britain's showjumpers are left with the prospect of being excluded from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, either through failing to qualify or because the British Olympic Association declines to sanction their participation. They had come to Spain with the declared aim of securing their Athens qualification here by finishing among the top five teams. Having missed that goal by a dismally wide margin, they can no longer take BOA sanction for granted – even if they do gain a qualifying place at next year's European Championships in Germany. Nor can Britain's showjumpers rely on continued lottery funding of £150,000 a year.

Di Lampard, jumping early for Britain when the arena was shrouded in mist, set the disappointing pattern with three errors on the final line of fences with Abbervail Dream. Both Scott Smith, on Cabri d'Elle, and Mark Armstrong, on Elise, made four mistakes – the latter adding a time fault to the 16 incurred for jumping. Like Lampard, Tim Stockdale and Fresh Direct Parcival looked on course for a clear round until three late errors.

"The preparation had gone well and there was good morale," Matt Straker, Britain's chef de mission, said. "I'm bitterly disappointed not to see them deliver."

Straker believes that Derek Ricketts has "pulled the team together" since taking over the job as World Class Performance manager towards the end of last year, but these results will not help him to prove that point. He will now have to make separate cases for both the dressage team (who finished 10th here last week) and the showjumpers to be given another chance by the BOA.

Straker will no doubt cite some young showjumping horses that have begun to prove their worth, notably the impressive stallion, Arko III, who is being brought on by Nick Skelton with Athens very much in mind.