British Olympics hopeful Brash out of Rio

Scott Brash, team showjumping gold medallist at the London Games, will miss the Rio Olympics as his two main mounts will not be fit in time, the British Equestrian Federation said on Tuesday.

Both Hello Sanctos and Hello M'Lady, the Scottish rider's two Olympic hopefuls, are recovering from injuries and unavailable.

Brash, 30, figured in a 10-strong list of Great Britain showjumping entries nominated as a Rio possibility, with a final team of four due to be announced on July 5.

Since London, Brash has enjoyed huge success as part of Britain's 2013 European gold medal-winning team.

He was also crowned overall Global Champions Tour winner twice and became the first rider to land showjumping's lucrative Grand Slam for winning successive grands prix at Geneva, Aachen and Calgary.

Had Hello Sanctos been fully fit and in prime competition form, then Brash would undoubtedly have gone to Rio as a strong individual gold medal contender, in addition to spearheading a team medal bid.

In a statement, the federation said: "We greatly regret that showjumper Scott Brash is unable to be selected to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

"Scott's top two Olympic hopefuls Hello Sanctos  and Hello M'Lady picked up minor injuries at the start of the season and are still not back into full competition work, and therefore will be unable to reach full fitness in time for Rio."

Brash, in a joint statement with his horses' owners, added: "We are extremely disappointed that we are unable to help Team GB in their quest to win another team gold medal at this year's Olympics.

"We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of Team GB every success in Rio."

Two members of the successful London 2012 quartet - Nick Skelton and Ben Maher - are expected to be named for Rio, when they could be joined by Michael Whitaker and 20-year-old Jessica Mendoza.

Source: AFP