France story

[Teddy Lancaster <Teddy@runningbear.com>]

From Gulf News:

> Sport News
>
> UAE riders in gallant fightback
>
>                        By M. Satyanarayan
>                        Compiegne, France - A gallant fightback by
>                        the UAE riders may have fallen short of a
>                        historic world team gold even as hosts France
>                        won all three individual medals in the 8th
>                        World Endurance Championships here late
>                        last night.
>
>                        At the time of going to press, Sheikh Rashid
> bin Mohammed Al Maktoum and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al
> Maktoum had finished seventh and 10th respectively. They were first home
> among the team riders but there were still three teams with three runners in
> the fray.
>
> Australia, Great Britain and Germany had three runners were still doing the
> ride and the UAE team will have to wait to find out their final team positions.
> The UAE were rather unfortunate when their third team rider Abdulla Bilhab
> could not clear the penultimate vet gate with victory just 20 kms away and
> after a gruelling 140 kms had been conquered.
>
> If he had done so UAE could have wrapped up the team gold. Amidst tough
> terrain, the UAE in fact were down and out with three of their riders out of
> the reckoning within the first two stages. But Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed,
> Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed and the ever-dependable Abdulla Bilhab
> fought back and were on course for the team gold.
>
> But when they were to start the final 20 kms, Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh
> Hamdan were clear but Bilhab's horse failed the vet test. At that stage the
> UAE were the only team with all their three team members in the lead and
> they just needed to complete.
>
> Maya strikes gold
>
> Maya Killa Perringerard on Varoussa struck gold for France in the
> individual event followed by teammates Cecile Miletto and Dominique
> Payen. Australia's Martin Parker who trained his horse in UAE throughout
> the season finished fourth before two more French riders followed him
> home. General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince
> of Dubai and Minister of Defence was present throughout the UAE
> fightback.
>
> Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE
> Equestrian and Racing Federation, also attended the ride and visited the
> UAE riders at every stage. The UAE's other three riders who could not go
> farther than the second stage were Hassan bin Ali, Sheikh Ahmed bin
> Humaid Al Nuaimi and Saeed Abdulla Al Ketbi.
>
> Earlier the packed stands were on their feet when the blue-helmetted French
> riders began to appear from the neighbouring woods to a warm round of
> applause of a large, partisan home crowd. In near-perfect weather, France
> finally staked claim to being one of the main endurance countries as their
> riders dominated the top positions.
>
> But unfortunately for them, the four riders named in the team event failed to
> do well and they could not figure in the team event. Their fate was similar to
> that of the UAE in 1998 when the hosts could not claim a team medal
> despite four of the riders in the top ten.
>
> However the French put an end to the American domination of the individual
> event in telling fashion. Killa Perringerard more than made up for the failure
> of her senior colleagues when she led the French sweep.
>
> In fact Killa and Miletto crossed the line together bringing back memories of
> the daughter-mother combination of Daniella Kanavy and Valery in the
> 1996 World Championship.
>
> Valerie knocked out
>
> Valerie, who could have won then and then equalled the three-win record of
> fellow American Hart, must have been ruing that moment yesterday.
>
> For the reigning world champion was knocked out in a freak manner and the
> aging grandmother might now find it really difficult to climb the podium again.
>
> Valerie was in command and leading on Charbiel when her horse was
> kicked by a stallion in the crewing area after the first stage and she had to
> withdraw subsequently. A US official said they were writing a letter of
> protest to the organisers over the small crewing areas. That perhaps was the
> only blot in a wonderfully-organised championship in which the trail proved
> to be the biggest obstacle.
>
> By the end of the third stage in the six-stage ride, almost 60 of the 142
> riders were eliminated in one of the hardest championship in the last 16
> years. Australia's Meg Wade, Canada's Len Fox, Kanavy, Italy's Antonio
> Rossi, last championship's bronze medalist Daisuke Yasunaga of Japan,
> French riders Vincent Dupont and Stephane Fleury along with the UAE's
> three riders were all victims of the hard forest path and the numerous climbs
> atop hills.
>
--
Teddy Lancaster

IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!  We will be away from August 11 through September 1
at the World Endurance Championships In Compiegne, France.

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