Day 1 of Eventing competition has wrapped in Rio and, just ten months after suffering a brain injury from a fall at the World Young Horse Championships in Lion D’Angers, British rider William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning sit atop the leaderboard with a score of 37 - the best score of Fox-Pitt’s career.

Aussie rider Chris Burton and Santino II followed closely on Fox-Pitt’s heels with a score of 37.6 and Michael Jung and Sam FBW, defending Olympic champions, finished third for the day after a few uncharacteristic bobbles, scoring 40.90.

Team Germany leads the day with solid performances by Jung and teammate Sandra Auffarth, while Team Australia sits in 2nd place and Great Britain in 3rd.

Individual results after day 1:

1. William Fox-Pitt (GBR) - Chilli Morning - 37.00
2. Christopher Burton (AUS) - Santano II - 37.60
3. Michael Jung (GER) - Sam FBW - 40.90
4. Sandra Auffarth (GER) - Opgun Louvo - 41.60
5. Astier Nicolas (FRA)- Piaf de b’Neville - 42.00
6. Karim Laghouag (FRA) - Entebbe - 43.40
7. Mark Todd (NZL) - Leonidas II - 44.0
8. Tim Lipps (NED) - Bayro - 46.00
9. Sam Griffiths (AUS) - Paulank Brockagh - 46.30
10. Clark Montgomery (USA) - Loughan Glen - 46.60

Article by Ashley Fairfield-Remeza

Sources:
NBCOlympics.com
Eventing Nation