"As you come around, you see a big guy's (butt)," British rider Harry Charles said.<\/p>\n
"There's a lot to look at," Ireland's Cian O'Connor added.<\/p>\n
"It is very realistic," echoed Israel's Teddy Vlock.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Riders say that a life-sized sumo wrestler positioned next to the 10th obstacle on the 14-jump Olympic course may have distracted several horses in qualifying for the individual jumping final Tuesday night. A few pairings pulled up short of the barrier, accumulating enough penalty points to prevent entry into Wednesday's finals.<\/p>\n
The statue is positioned to the left of a jump placed in the corner of the arena. Hunched over and seemingly ready to attack, the wrestler is facing away from approaching riders, meaning that when they complete a sharp turn to take on the jump, the first thing horse and human see is the wedgie created by the wrestler's mawashi.<\/p>\n
"I did notice four or five horses really taking a spook to that," Charles said.<\/p>\n
Most of the course's hurdles are decorated with a distinctly Japanese feel \u2014 geisha kimonos, a miniature Japanese palace, taiko drums.<\/p>\n
None caught the eye quite like the sumo wrestler.<\/p>\n
Among the horses alarmed by the setup was France's Penelope Leprevost \u2014 a team jumping gold medalist in 2016. She wasn't sure if the wrestler specifically threw off her 12-year-old stallion, Vancouver de Lanlore.<\/p>\n
"Maybe," she said. "We tried to relax our horses in the turn, and maybe they're surprised to see a vertical so close. I don't know."<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Vlock went 34th in the 73-horse field. After seeing others have issues, he and trainer Ireland's Darragh Kenny \u2014 also a competitor in Tuesday's field \u2014 made a point of trotting their horses to the 10th jump before beginning their runs so the animals could look it over.<\/p>\n
The hope was that familiarity would breed bravery.<\/p>\n
"It is very realistic," Vlock said. "It does look like a person, and that's a little spooky. You know, horses don't want to see a guy, like, looking intense next to a jump, looking like he's ready to fight you."<\/p>\n
Vlock and Kenny both cleared the obstacle without issue. Kenny finished second with no penalty points and a time of 82.01, while Vlock fell short due to other issues.<\/p>\n
Of course, it's hard to know what's in a horse's head. Some riders chalked up the troubles to how close the jump was positioned to the turn. Others blamed the stadium's bright lights that also led to concern at jump No.1.<\/p>\n
Medal hopefuls Scott Brash of Britain and Martin Fuchs of Switzerland believed cherry blossoms positioned on the other side of the jump were the more likely culprit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Whatever the cause, it's not surprising to Olympic veterans that there's drama around the park. The Games have a reputation among riders for flashy course design, including an oddly shaped jump at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 that caused similar consternation.<\/p>\n
"To be honest, you expect it in the Olympic Games," Brash said.<\/p>\n
And that's OK with them.<\/p>\n
"You know it's going to be colourful coming here," he added. "You know it's going to be decorative. And it's beautiful, you know? It's fantastic. That's what makes it a championship. If it was just plain old jumps, it'd be just like any other week."<\/p>\n
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