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Sweetnam, James Kann Cruz stumble at final hurdle

RTÉ · RTÉ Sport · 2026-08-23T18:15:17+00:00 · nguồn gốc

Ireland's Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz were close to a perfect round in the Individual Final at the FEI Jumping World Championship in Aachen, Germany, on Sunday but an unfortunate touch at the final tall vertical saw them finish 15th. Switzerland's Steve Guerdat claimed the individual gold medal with Dynamix de Bélhème on a final score of 0.86 penalties. Belgium's Thibault Spits and Impress K van ’t Kattenheye Z took silver on 5.60 penalties, while Great Britain’s Harry Charles and LT Holst Freda won bronze on 7.17 penalties. Sweetnam was ninth to jump in the final, with riders competing in reverse order of merit. The pair delivered another outstanding round, but that touch at the final tall vertical, which caught out several competitors, added four costly penalties. They finished on a total of 10.28 penalties, completing the championship in 15th place individually. "He was amazing all week. We did not always have the rub of the green, but he jumped brilliantly throughout the championship. Today, he felt great and jumped amazingly," Sweetnam said. "The final rail was unlucky, and a costly one. Harry Charles ended up third and he was behind me going (into) today, so there is a bit of a 'what if’ feeling. If I had made the second round, perhaps I could have pushed my way further up the leaderboard, but I am very proud of him and it has been a great week." Sweetnam and the 13-year-old gelding were Ireland's only combination to qualify for Sunday’s Individual Final, having emerged from an original championship field of 165 of the world’s leading horse and rider combinations. The exceptional difficulty of the test was underlined by the day’s results. Only six of the world’s top 25 combinations contesting Round A completed the course without jumping faults, while 12 combinations, including Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz, finished with just one fence down.