Sports

Thursday, Jul. 24, 2008

Creston rider Gina Miles will compete in Olympics after being excluded from 2004 Games because her horse developed respiratory problems

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Gina Miles had her lifelong Olympic dreams squarely in front of she and her horse, McKinlaigh.

But shortly before selection the U.S. equestrian eventing team for the 2004 Athens Games, the Creston rider's horse developed respiratory problems that prevented it from competing.

An Olympic dream had become an untimely nightmare.

Now, four years later, it appears Miles and McKinlaigh will at long last get their chance.

"I'm a little guarded, still," Miles said, "because like any athlete, there is a chance of something coming up (with McKinlaigh) in the last few weeks of training. We stay just a little bit guarded and take watch over the horses carefully."

Miles, 34, was one of five chosen to the U.S. team July 14. She is currently in England training.

Eventing combines three riding disciplines - dressage, cross country and show jumping.

McKinlaigh will be shipped toward Hong Kong on July 30, and Miles will leave July 31. The tandem will begin competition Aug. 9 in Hong Kong, one day after the opening ceremonies.

"it certainly is the culmination of all the work and effort and training," Miles said. "The emotional energy and the financial backing that goes into getting us here is very rewarding."

Being selected to the U.S. team did not surprise Miles.

"We were fairly confident to make the trip because my horse is pretty solid," she said. "He's got a solid competition record and performed well at the Pan-Am Games."

So well, in fact, that Miles was part of a U.S. eventing team at the 2007 Pan-Am Games in Brazil that won a gold medal while Miles took the individual bronze.

Will that lead to an Olympic medal?

"It's a very competitive year," Miles said. "The British team is strong, and the German and Australian teams. There are five nations that are all capable of medaling. On any given day, all of our teams have to put in a solid performance to get into that position. The horse-rider combinations are very experienced."

One of those experienced combinations is miles McKinlaigh, a pair whose career took off in 2000 by winning the Western Debroke Championships. By 2006, they were crowned United States Eventing Association Gold Cup Advanced champions.

McKinlaigh, an Irish sport horse who is now 14 years old, first flashed Olympic potential when he was about 8, Miles said.

"He was a very promising, young horse," Miles said. "It's a sport where, unlike racing, the horses don't perform best when they're young. This sport, they perform best when they're 12 to 16."

The unpredictability of equestrian judging, coupled with the horse's health, meant some tense moments leading up to Miles' Olympic selection. But Miles' husband, Morgan, had Beijing circled on the calendar all along.

"It wasn't something that I think we expected, but we planned for it," he said. "It was a pretty exciting thing."

Because the horses will be inspected Aug. 8, Gina Miles will not be able to participate in opening ceremonies. But with the horses being shipped back to the U.S. on Aug. 16, she plans on staying in China to participate in the closing ceremonies Aug. 24.

"I think having the opportunity to get this far," Gina Miles said, "you ant share in the Olympic feeling."

A feeling that, though it may be four years overdue, Gina Miles can finally enjoy.