Mark Phillips

Last week at the World Eventing Championships in Pratoni, the Italian media asked me about competing at a time of mourning. I was lucky enough to be on the team ...

Yasmin, just three seconds over the time, moved into second with an extraordinarily cool and calculated performance, which was the undoubted high spot of a day that finished with the team in bronze. It’s too painful to think about, but if Yasmin had been in the team, that gold would have come home, too. Tom’s one rail put the Brits in the hunt, but Will Coleman’s clear landed the US on top. Happily, that ghost has been put to bed as London looked as good as any at the finish. Ros’s magnificent clear put the Brits back in it. However, Laura came too quickly at the Slide and paid the price with a glance-off at the skinny at the bottom. That was the task of our boys and girls in Italy. With three rails covering the top four teams, it was anyone’s championship. [World Eventing Championships](/eventing-world-championships) in Pratoni, the Italian media asked me about competing at a time of mourning. [Ros Canter](/tag/ros-canter) very much in touch and it was the same for [Tom McEwen](/tag/tom-mcewen), despite breaking in his medium trot. [Laura Collett](/tag/laura-collett) put her best foot forward with London 52 to be just half a mark behind [Michael Jung](/tag/michael-jung), while [Oliver Townend](/tag/oliver-townend)’s typically solid performance on Ballaghmor Class put him sixth. Was that over-confidence after her Badminton success or worrying about how much running London 52 would have at the end?