Sjöborg and her "Belle" crossed the finish line after the rough half-mile in Versailles palace park without penalty points
The feeling then was happiness and pride.
Shortly after, she was awarded 15 penalty points for not having cleared an obstacle correctly – a penalty that would prove devastating for her and teammates Louise Romeike and Frida Andersén.
For me, the horse jumped the entire obstacle. Those who sat at the obstacle thought we jumped without problems. And I was faultless at the finish. It took a very long time for the jury to make up their minds, says Sjöborg.
Together with national team captain Fredrik Bergendorff and leader Jogi Breisner, they were called to a meeting. The trio's stance was crystal clear: Sjöborg cleared the obstacle – albeit from an angle that was not captured by the competition camera.
Filed a protest
When the judges refused to change their stance, Sweden chose to file a protest. With the help of the Swedish Olympic Committee and TV companies, images were tracked down from broadcasts to provide the competition jury – with Swedish Christina Klingspor as chairman – a better basis for decision-making.
But the jury only wanted to rely on the competition camera.
Isn't it a bit strange? Was there prestige involved in the whole thing?
I don't know. I think it's hard when they say they only want to use the camera they have. I and Rosalind Canter (also the British rider who got penalty points) jumped a bit sideways. Then you can't see how deep the horse came onto the obstacle.
It's a bit weird. In the rules, it says that if it's unclear, it goes to the horse and rider.
"They have made a mistake"
But the jury convicted rather than acquitted.
After the jumping, Sweden finished sixth with 130.50 penalty points. Bronze medalist Japan reached 115.80. Simple math: Without Sjöborg's penalty points in the terrain riding, Sweden would have gotten 115.50 and beaten Japan by 0.3 points.
Fredrik Bergendorff regretted the jury's decision.
I absolutely think they (the jury) have made a mistake, but sport is sport. We thought it would be different, but now it's decided like this. I think it's important to use the rules fully as we did.
Great Britain won the team gold. France took silver.
