UPDATE: Our live coverage has concluded for the day, but feel free to browse our thread below, and stick around for a full report soon and more coverage from Rio!

Welcome to our live coverage of the Rio Olympics show jumping team final! Rounds will begin at 9:00 a.m. ET, and we’ll be updating you round by round throughout the morning as competition progresses.

Since the Team Final also serves as the third round individual qualifier, the first several rounds will be combinations looking to advance to Friday’s finals, followed by those competing both as team members and individuals. The order of go can be found here.

#Rio2016: [Rio Website] [Live Stream] [Schedule] [JN’s Rio Coverage] [JN Twitter]

Note: All times listed below are ET. Eastern Time is one hour behind Rio.

8:47 – In the 11th hour, we are getting word that Beezie Madden and Cortes ‘C’ have withdrawn from the team competition in Rio. From the United States Equestrian Federation’s website, Beezie Madden shares:

“We are heartbroken to announce that Cortes ‘C’ sustained a tendon injury in yesterday’s competition and will be unable to compete for Team USA today. We are confident that he will make a full recovery. While we had hoped to do everything we could to help the USA towards a medal today, Tiny’s [Cortes ‘C’] best interests must come first. We are so thankful to our teammates, sponsors, and most importantly, his owner, Abigail Wexner, for understanding that in this sport, sometimes winning means doing right by your best friend. We will be there today on the sidelines doing everything we can to support Kent, Lucy, and McLain.”

Elizabeth Madden USA

Additional updates: Jur Vrieling for the Netherlands, William Whitaker of Great Britain, and Stephan de Freitas Barcha will not ride today.

9:00 – Nestor Nielson Van Hoff of Uruguay is out to start us off! He is competing as an individual.

9:02 – We’re getting our first look at this team final course and it’s intimidating, thuogh Nestor is making excellent work of it. Starts off with a big wall, includes some very narrow fences, tight turns, lots of striding options, and some MASSIVE oxers.

9:04 – Nestor had three rails at the end of the course and one time fault despite appearing to be really cruising.

9:06 – Jerome Guery of Belgium has a rail and one time for a total of 15 penalties over three rounds.

9:07 – Karim Elzoghby of Egypt coming in with 9 faults from the previous rounds, and adds another 9 here for 18 altogether.

9:08 – There are two combinations on course – a hollow triple and a plank double that looks like a wavy wall. I suspect that could really catch a few horses.

9:10 – Luciana Diniz is next in for Portugal.

9:11 – Luciana and Fit for Fun 13 take down a rail and grab one time fault for a total of 13 penalties from all three rounds.

9:13 – Quintana Ramiro for Argentina and Appy Cara have two rails and two time penalties for a total of 18 faults after three rounds.

9:15 – Matt Williams and Valinski S are on course and they are CRUISING. He looks hellbent to make the time, but brings down top plank of the double combination.

9:17 – Matt adds two time as he appeared to get more careful and slow after that rail, and puts him at a total of 14.

9:18 – Ulrich Kirchoff of Ukraine has a bit of a disastrous round with 17 penalties.

9:20 – Nick Skelton for Great Britain in now.

9:21 – Nick takes down the middle fence of the triple and adds a time fault, for a total of 13 penalties over three rounds. This time is proving to be very difficult to make!

9:23 – We get our next Brit right away, as Ben Maher and Tic Tac have no jumping faults and add just a single time fault, making our first jumping clear. Will the higher ranked riders be able to go double clear later today?

9:26 – Manual Fernandez Saro of Spain collects 9 additional faults for 17 overall.

9:27 – Bassem Hassan Mohammed of Qatar is in now on Dejavu. They’re going carefully, but will be contending with time.

9:29 – Bassem adds a stride on the second to last fence and smashes through, but gets it together to come through with five faults, and it’s good enough to qualify for the final!

9:31 – What a pity! Takeida Reiko and Bardolino of Japan take a long distance early on and crash. Takeida opts to retire, knowing she won’t make the final after that. Very brave, but so gutting.

9:35 – Matias Albarracin of Argentina has a rail and time penalty but it’s good enough to qualify for the final on a total score of 10!

9:36 – Australia’s Edqina Tops-Alexander in now on Lintea Tequila. Could she be our first double clear?

9:38 – She’s got a rail in the middle of the triple, but she’s the first to make the time! It puts her in a tie for first with Ben Maher at the moment.

9:40 – Our second Qatari is in now, Sheikh Ali al Thani aboard First Devision.

Welcome to the other dark side, Leanne:

9:41 – Ali and First Devision go clear over the poles and adds one time! Ali now leads the pack on a total of five faults. Well done!

9:43 – Ali Yousef al Rumaihi of Qatar leaves them all up and just adds two time to put him in the lead in front of his countryman. All three combinations from Qatar advance to the final. Incredible!

9:48 – Rene Tebbel of Ukraine goes clear with 2 time to go to the lead on a total of 3.

9:50 – Sergio Alvarez Moya of Spain brings down the very last rail, for a total of 6. These were his first faults of the Games.

We’re on our first drag break of the Team Final! We’ll be back in about 10 minutes, where we’ll pick up with our first Swedish team rider!

We’re back!

10:03 – Malin Baryard Johnsson was having such a nice round until everything fell apart at the last 3 fences. What a pity!

10:06 – Janika Sprunger of Switzerland was SO CLOSE to a double clear, just a quarter of a second over, but still a great score for the swiss!

10:07 – Yann Candele for Canada in now! The Canadians are currently tied for fifth.

10:08 – Yann was just moments from the first double clear before bringing down the final fence! What a heartbreaker, but still an utterly admirable ride.

The Brazilian fans are ready for their heroes!

Começou! !!! Torcida! #olympics #twohearts #teambrasil

A post shared by Fernanda Pessanha (@fernandapinheiropessanha) on

10:11 – Philippe Rozier brings in just the one time penalty for France in a totally genius, scrappy ride. There were some odd distances in there and Rahotep de Toscane was masterfully athletic to make it all work.

10:12 – KENT FARRINGTON GUYS.

10:14 – VIVA LA KENT!!! KF and Voyeur have no jumping faults and a single time penalty, which is wonderful for Team USA, and excellent for his medaling chances!

10:15 – Jeroen Dubbeldam for the Netherlands is out now and has an easy rail down early on. As Netherlands has no drop score, this could be the difference for the Dutch.

10:17 – Jeroen and Zenith add just a time fault, but it drops the Netherlands to fifth.

10:19 – The heavy hitters are just going to keep coming now. Eduardo Menezes and Quintol have no time but one rail for Brazil. They must count that score.

10:21 – Christian Ahlmann of Germany aboard my boyfriend Taloubet Z out now. I love this horse. Because he’s my boyfriend. Hope we’re all clear on that.

10:22 – That dreaded plank combination trips up Christian and TZ, and they nearly have a rail in the triple if not for some serious athleticism. They have four faults and no time, but Germany is the only team 0-sum team that still has a score to drop.

10:24 – Peder Fredricson of Sweden and All In go all out and manage to tie Kent Farrington atop the leaderboard with just a single time fault! It’s heating up now, folks.

10:26 – Romain Duguet of Switzerland in now, and this horse is flying. You’d never know it’s his third day of competition.

10:28 – They rush into the second fence of the double combination a bit, and the plank plus one time puts Romain at 9 faults altogether individually.

10:29 – Canada’s Tiffany Foster in now on Tripple X!

10:31 – WOWEEEEEE! Tiffany rides absolutely genius, flawless, double clear round. Massive gallop on the backside bought her a half second at least! Incredible!

10:34 – Kevin Staut of France puts in another double clear! The door has been flung open! He’s got four from an earlier round, but he’s right in the thick of it individually and keeps France on a tremendous 4th place score of 1 time fault.

10:35 – Here comes our California girl! Lucy Davis and Barron in the ring now! USA USA USA.

10:37 – Lucy and Barron have the middle of the triple down but no time. We’re still in it, guys! #nevergiveup

Indeed:

10:40 – Maikel Van der Vleuten and Verdi of the Netherlands add just one time fault in a do-or-die round for team orange!

10:41 – US native Mereditch Michaels-Beerbaum and Fibonacci of Germany. Mer, it’s not too late to come home to the states. You can bunk with me. Fibs can come too.

10:42 – The last rail!!!! What a heartbreaker for Germany and Meredith (but you can still come home and bunk with me.)

10:43 – That’s a huge shakeup in the standings, folks.

Capture

We’re on our next drag break, ladies and gents, but we’re so glad to have you along! Go get a nice American snack of breakfast hot wings and cheap office coffee and then come on back.

We’re back from the final drag break and are down to our last thirteen riders!

10:58 –  Out now is Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden, who desperately need a clear round to stay in the hunt.

11:00 – Two heartbreaking rails for Sweden are going to put them out of medal contention. Disappointing day for a strong team!

11:01 – Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs and Clooney are a couple of Clooneys, if you ask me. That blond bob slays me. #objectifyingmaleolympians

11:03 – Unfortunately the Clooneys bring home a rail and a time fault, which must be counted, putting team Sweden at 13 penalties altogether.

11:05 – Amy Millar for Canada in now!

11:06 – Amy and Heros had an early rail in the double, and then couldn’t get their act together through the triple combination, bringing down b and c.

11:07 – Roger Yves Bost in now for France. This could be an epic round, guys.

11:08 – Can you hear the people sing? Singing the song of France’s dreams? It’s a golden tune for France as they cannot and will not be caught! Bosty seals it for France!

If you missed Kevin Staut’s gold medal dance on the live stream, I’m terribly sorry. It was extraordinary.

11:09 – Here comes Mclain for team USA. There is NO ROOM FOR ERROR.

11:11 – MCLAIN WARD IS MCLUTCH. A beautiful double clear at the most critical moment!

11:12 – The USA can do no worse than Bronze, friends. It’s a beautiful day.

11:14 – It just wasn’t Harrie Smolder’s day, or the Dutch’s in general. He had three rails to finish his Olympic performance.

11:16 – One down for Brazil’s Alvaro Doda de Miranda, so it’s up to Germany to see what happens now in the race for the podium!

11:17 – Here comes the absolutely chill as ice Daniel Deusser for Germany.

11:18 – He has a rail in the triple combination, opening the door to destiny! That’s a confirmed silver medal for the United States of America!!!

11:22 – Incredible that the US can leave so many world class riders off the team, have our anchor rider withdraw the day of, and still perform under pressure. This is an absolutely historic performance for the United States.

11:25 – Beautiful ride for Steve Guerdat of Switzerland and the stunning Nino Des Buissonnets. That puts him in 22nd going into the individual final.

11:27 – ERIC LAMAZE! King Canada is the only rider to go triple clear and will be in first place going into the individual final! Absolutely tremendous!

11:28 – If Eric wins on Friday, he’ll be only the third rider in history to win the Olympic gold medal in show jumping twice.

11:29 – Pedro Veniss of Brazil comes out to defend Brazil’s possible position for a medal in these Olympic games in front of a home crowd. It is SILENT in the stands.

11:30 – A rail down and a time for a disappointed but still ever-supportive Brazilian crowd to not medal at home. That means Germany and Canada are the last teams standing for a hunt for bronze.

11:32 – Out strides the utterly dominant and iconic Ludger Beerbaum of Germany. He must go clear to jump off for bronze.

11:33 – THAT’S HOW IT’S DONE, FOLKS. 1.5 seconds under the time allowed with a clear round for Ludger, and we’re going to a jump-off!

Your wish is our command!

We’re on a brief break as they set the jump-off track for Germany and Canada. I can’t believe I’m saying that, to be perfectly honest. This is an incredible Canadian team, but I don’t think anyone knew they were THIS incredible. To have the US in silver position and Canada in a jump off with Germany is truly an incredible moment for North American show jumping.

Jump Off Time!

Best three times/scores from each team will count towards Bronze medal win.

11:47 – Yann Candele of Canada is first out.

11:48 – Yann has a rail down! Could be the deal breaker.

11:49 – Christian Ahlmann and Taloubet Z out now for Germany.

11:50 – Clear and a time of 42.68!

11:52 – Tiffany Foster and Tripple X now for Canada – clear and a 44.81!

11:53 – Meredith and Fibonacci clear and 44.35!

11:54 – Amy Millar of Canada must jump clear to stay in the hunt, and has a rail at the skinny fence. Now Daniel Deusser and Ludger Beerbaum must simply ride any clear round to win the bronze. He could stop in the middle and have a martini and finish clear and still win.

11:56 – And that will do it! Daniel Deusser jumps a clear round for Germany and clinches the bronze medal! Canada will have to settle for a very respectable fourth place at these games.

The final wrap ups for the team competition:

  1. France
  2. United States
  3. Germany
  4. Canada
  5. Brazil
  6. Switzerland
  7. Sweden
  8. Netherlands

The individual finals are on Friday morning, and these are our top 16 contenders:

indiividual final

We haven’t left you yet! Let’s enjoy the victory ceremony, shall we?

12:13 – Here come the Americans! Beezie obviously opts not to make Tiny limp into the arena for his medal. Even with injury, Beezie is unquestionably part of the Team USA’s winning program.

12:14 – A magnificent collection of riders coming in for team Germany in Ludger, Meredith, Daniel and Christian.

12:15 – The French riders really did a number today. We’re going to be talking in the next few weeks how this team did what they did here in Rio.

fdsfs

12:20 – The team clearly thrilled with this silver medal moment!

Beautiful hostoric moment for team France!

That’s a wrap for our Team Final coverage! We are so appreciative of each and every one of you who enjoyed the rounds with us, tweeted, shared, and commented. The equestrian community is an incredible village and we are honored to be part of it.

Come on back for a full report later this afternoon for additional coverage and commentary, and of course, for our final live update on Friday morning for the individual show jumping medals at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Go Jumping!