YOUTH OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALLIST

From CIEF

The Cayman Islands Equestrian Federation (“CIEF”) is delighted to announce that Polly Serpell made history last month in the 2014 Youth Olympics Games (“YOG”) in Nanjing, China, by winning a Bronze medal in the Team Event. This is the first medal to be won at any Olympic Games by a Caymanian.

In 2013 the CIEF was offered a universality place at YOG for a rider who could meet the qualification requirements by obtaining a Certificate of Capability.   Polly Serpell was selected by the Board of the CIEF and qualified to attend YOG by obtaining her Certificate of Capability in Puerto Rico at an FEI World Jumping Challenge Category A competition in October 2013. To obtain the Certificate, Polly was required to obtain a score of not more than eight faults in the first round at heights of 1.2m. Faults, or penalties, are awarded during a round for reasons such as; exceeding the time allowed, knocking down fences and for resistances by the horse such as a refusal to jump a fence. Riders may also be eliminated if their horse refuses more than one fence, or if they fall off during a round.

After qualifying, Polly began her training in earnest here in Cayman with her coach Mary Alberga and in the USA, with coach Debi Connor. In order to train and compete in the US, Polly leased a horse there called ‘Recover’. In the past 12 months, Polly has trained and competed in Florida, Georgia, Tenessee and Puerto Rico

At YOG, 30 riders aged between 16 and 18 met together to compete. Polly was the youngest competitor present, making the age cut off by just a few days. The competition was split into two events. For both events, the riders ride a borrowed horse, which is allocated by a random draw before the competition starts. Polly drew a dappled grey warm blood named ‘Giorgio Zan’. The pair proved a great match.

First up was the Team Event in which riders were grouped by region into teams. Six Continental Teams of five riders were created: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America and Polly was part of Team North America, nicknamed ‘Guty’s Angels’ after their Chef D’Equipe (team leader). The Team consisted of, Macarena Chiriboga – ECU, Sabrina Meza Rivera – ESA, Stefanie Brand – GUA, Maria Gabriela Brugal – DOM and Polly Serpell – CAY.

The Team Competition consisted of two courses of jumps over two days. Each day’s top three scores from each team were accumulated, the team with the fewest faults coming out on top. Polly scored 4 faults in Round 1 and zero faults in Round 2, resulting in her being the only North American Team rider who had their scores for both rounds count towards the overall team score which resulted in the bronze medal win! Favourites, Team Europe, won the gold medal, with the silver medal going to Team South America.

The second event was the Individual Competition which also required riders to jump two different courses over two days. After these two rounds, any riders with an equality of accumulated faults for first place participated in a jump off against the clock.   At the end of the first day, Polly was lying in 22nd position with 12 faults but by the end of the second day, after a fifth place finish on four faults, she climbed to a final 15th place finish with 16 faults overall. Kiwi Emily Fraser won the gold medal in the Individual Competition, with Martina Campi from Argentina taking the silver and Jake Hunter of Australia sweeping up the bronze.

As the first Caymanian to win a medal at YOG, Polly was invited to carry the Cayman flag at the Closing Ceremony.

Sharon Hinds, President of the CIEF, commented Polly’s and Team North America’s medal win. “This is unbelievable! I told Polly to enjoy the experience and have fun and make new lifetime friends. Her coming home with a medal is the icing on the cake. It has made all her hard work, effort and family sacrifice worth it. This is an outstanding achievement, which could not have been possible without the assistance of the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee, the Cayman Islands Government, FEI Solidarity, her parents, her coaches and Giorgio Zan.”

For a complete set of results go to:

http://mat1.gtimg.com/nanjing2014/resultsbook/Results_Book_EQ_V1.0.pdf

IMAGES:

Flag bearer (Molly Serpell) Polly Serpell

All others images (c)FEI/Richard Juilliart