Equestrian: Britain take team silver as William Fox-Pitt ends with bronze
Last Updated: 04/09/14 5:04pm
William Fox-Pitt failed in his bid for the individual world eventing title thanks to a mistake on a single fence as Great Britain took the team silver medal.
Fox-Pitt, riding Chilli Morning, was leading at the World Equestrian Games in Caen, Normandy, after Saturday's cross-country portion, but the Briton lost any hope of winning overall by clipping the second fence after 10 seconds in Sunday's show jumping section.
He finished third overall, 2.3 points behind Sandra Auffarth of Germany who won the individual eventing gold medal on Opgun Louvo and helped Germany to the team gold, and behind Olympic champion Michael Jung who finished second.
Auffarth, a bronze medallist at the 2012 London Olympics, cleared every obstacle in 89 seconds, well below the allowed time of 93 seconds.
In the team event, Britain, champions in 2010, had to settle for silver after being unable to overhaul Germany's overnight lead.
An impressive clear round on Sunday saw 2006 world champion Zara Phillips finish 11th in her first major event since the birth of her baby daughter in January.
However, two fences down for Tina Cooksaw saw her finish 16th, while Nicola Wilson, riding as an individual and not counting towards the team score, had four fences down, plus a stop at the last, to finish 25th.
The Netherlands won bronze in the team event, ensuring their qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympics alongside Germany, Britain, hosts France in fourth, fifth-placed Australia and Ireland in sixth.
Meanwhile, British showjumper Ben Maher will miss the British team's bid to win the world team jumping title at the games after an injury to his horse Cella.
The world No 3, who won team gold at London 2012 aboard Tripple X, was expected to play a key role but will now be replaced by Jessie Drea and Touchable.
She will support the four-rider British team now confirmed for next week's jumping events: world number one Scott Brash (on Hello Sanctos), Joe Clee (Utamaro d'Ecaussines), Spencer Roe (Wonder Why) and Michael Whitaker (Viking V).
