What a race! I've sat up all night glued to the computer screen watching the ESPN Star coverage (and getting slighty car sick occasionally!). Although the storm cut transmission for a while, I was truly amazed at the overall coverage by ESPN, as it proved that endurance CAN be a spectator sport after all!
Dave Kaden's commentary was good, as was the Malaysian commentator Peter Abisheganaden. It was also good to hear from Steph Teeter, Zulu and various other interesting people. The effort made by ESPN Star to do the 'live cross' to interview participants was excellent, and I'm sure that better methods of reporting endurance riding will be found in the future. But for this effort, I'd like to congratulate ESPN Star!
And although I'm bleary-eyed, I just can't have a nap until I tell you all how stoked I am that Splendacrest Kamouflage came 4th, and Zakah Zahara came 6th, and both horses were on the UAE Gold Medal Team! And congratulations to the UAE riders, who surprised many people with their teammanship and ability to ride for the good of the team! A huge learning curve for the rest of the world, I'd say!
Especially for Lisa Salas: .... another good completion for Zakah Zahara, and I'm sure you'll hear more about him in the future... I don't think his competition days are over yet! And Splendacrest Kamouflage is also a mighty performer with many completions to his name, and several good wins in there as well!
The Aussies lost 4 of our riders along the way, and I don't even know what's happening with Penny Toft and Kristie McGaffin at the moment! I also followed the trials and tribulations of the USA team.... again, although I don't know the current status of your riders, I expect John and Steph will inform us all in due course!
Well, I guess that I'll just have to stay awake until the final rider crosses the line, or else I'll just lie there wondering what's going on!! Hope all your riders and horses return home well and happy!
