Defending Olympic champion Michael Jung (GER) announced a last-minute change to his Rio mount on Facebook today. fischerTakino, the reigning European eventing champion, has been sidelined by an infection following last week’s winning performance in Aachen. The nine-year-old gelding won’t be well in time to compete at the XXXI Olympiad in Brazil.

Or, as Facebook Translate succinctly put it, there’ll be:

– no rio for fishing boats d herta kinou –

Jung has wisely decided to take La Biosthetique Sam FBW—”Sam” as he’ll be known in Rio—instead. (No free advertising at the Olympics!)

Fear not. While the world #1 reports “feeling devastated” in his Facebook post, he’s going to be just fine, folks. Jung’s backup horse won double gold medals at London 2012, Burghley in 2015, and Badminton this spring. If they top the podium in Rio, Sam will go down in history as only the third eventing horse to accomplish back-to-back individual gold medals at the Olympics.

There, there, Michael. We all believe you’re going to overcome this setback and ride to a glorious podium finish. It’s what you do.

fisherTakinou is expected to make a full recovery.

 

 

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