Just seven months after breaking his neck, Tim Stockdale is poised to gain an Olympic selection chance.
Show-jumper selected as part of squad for FEI Nations Cup event
Just seven months after breaking his neck, show-jumper Tim Stockdale is poised to gain an Olympic selection chance next week.
Stockdale, 47, has been selected as part of Great Britain's five-strong squad for the FEI Nations Cup event in St Gallen, Switzerland on June 1st.
Rob Hoekstra, team manager, revealed earlier this month that Northamptonshire-based Stockdale would be handed an opportunity to impress during the London 2012 selection process.
He will now head to Switzerland with Fresh Direct Kalico Bay, joining team-mates John Whitaker, Michael Whitaker, Nick Skelton and Scott Brash.
The 2008 Olympian was trying out a horse in north Wales last October when he suffered a crashing fall. He subsequently spent six weeks recovering at a specialist spinal unit in Oswestry, where he was treated for three fractured vertebrae.
However, he performed well in a number of two and three-star events since returning, finishing second in the Royal Windsor Horse Show Grand Prix behind Louise Pavitt two weeks ago.
Selection
Hoekstra and his fellow selector Di Lampard are set to announce the four-strong British team for the Games in early July.
World show-jumping's current form rider, Skelton, as well as Ben Maher are widely expected to nail down two of the places, with the likes of Brash, the Whitaker brothers, Peter Charles, Stockdale and Guy Williams contesting the others.
Skelton, winner of the Hamburg Global Champions' Tour event and La Baule Grand Prix in recent weeks, will ride Carlo 273 in St Gallen.
Brash has been selected aboard Intertoy Z, with Michael Whitaker riding Viking V and John Whitaker on Maximillian IV.
At the La Baule Nations Cup opener, Britain finished fifth, with round two of this season's eight-event series taking place in Rome on Friday.
