GB seal gold after jump-off

Great Britain claimed team show jumping gold at the London Olympics yesterday in a gripping jump-off against the Netherlands at Greenwich Park. The head-to-head showdown was required to split the two teams after they had finished the competition in...

Great Britain claimed team show jumping gold at the London Olympics yesterday in a gripping jump-off against the Netherlands at Greenwich Park.

The head-to-head showdown was required to split the two teams after they had finished the competition in a tie for first with eight penalty points. Saudi Arabia, with 14 points, finished in the bronze medal position.

This was only the London 2012 hosts’ second ever team title, and it came 60 years after the first in Helsinki, sending the Union Jack flag-waving capacity 23,000 crowd into raptures.

Britain claimed their latest gold at these Games when Peter Charles, the fourth rider to go in the jump off, went clear, to match the faultless displays of veteran Nick Skelton and Ben Maher.

The Dutch, seeking to follow up their team gold in Barcelona in 1992, were undone when Maikel van der Vleuten, riding Verdi, knocked two fences down and Marc Houtzager one down on Tamino.

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