Ireland’s show jumping team was looking good to qualify for next summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Olympic medalist Cian O’Connor was perfect through 10 fences.
But as O’Connor approached the 11th, an official wandered onto the course. Realizing his mistake, the official leapt into a flower bed.
O’Connor’s horse, apparently spooked, knocked off a rail from the next fence. When the scores were totaled, Ireland had missed out on an Olympic berth by 38-hundredths of a point. Had O’Connor cleared Fence 11, Ireland would have made it. Spain will instead receive the last spot in Rio.