The British dressage team finished today's final team competition in sixth place and although this leaves them outside the medal standings, two Team GB riders -
Emma Hindle and
Laura Bechtolsheimer - have qualified for the individual final, which begins on Saturday.
In today's competition, the final rider for the British team, Laura Bechtolsheimer (riding Mistral Hojris) scored 65.917 to leave Britain on a final score of 66.805.
In the electric atmosphere Laura's test showed glimpses of the excellent form they are both capable of, scoring 9's for the first extended trot work. However, an error of course early on unsettled them both and Mistral Hojris seemed to become more powerful and extravagant as the test went on with Laura showing great presence to contain him.
She was disappointed with the test. She said: "It was on the borderline of what we could achieve. It's a fine line between what I can manage and brilliance. Sometimes it's very hard to get the right amount and he can be so big and extravagant. My lack of experience at this level showed but I had to go for it."
However, Laura's Games are not over yet as the score was good enough to qualify her for the individual final where the qualifying score will not be counted as part of the final mark.
Also, making the individual final is Britain's Emma Hindle who rode the test of her life yesterday (Wednesday) to qualify in an impressive fourth place with a score of 71.125.
Germany and the Netherlands were hotly tipped to fight it out for the top two places in the team competition and Germany were the eventual victors with Holland taking silver and Denmark taking the bronze.
Final Team scores
Gold - Germany - 72.961
Silver - Netherlands - 71.750
Bronze - Denmark - 68.875
4th - USA - 67.819
5th - Sweden - 67.347
6th - Great Britain - 66.806
Go to www.teamgb.com and click on 'Results' to view all the latest Team GB results. Click on 'Team GB' to view profiles of all Team GB athletes.
For further information
Please note Beijing local time is seven hours ahead of BST – if you are based in the UK please contact the London press office, which is operational from 6am to 9pm BST.
London office: 020 8871 2677 ext 215, 233, 227 or 247, or try the 24/7 hotline on +44 7725 372598
Overall queries & canoeing: Miriam Wilkens (Chief Press Officer) +86 1507 720 4293
Badminton, gymnastics, hockey & judo: Emma Griffin (Press Officer) +86 1507 720 4296
Archery, boxing, fencing, tennis & triathlon: Louisa Huddy (Press Officer) +86 1507 720 4295
Cycling, modern pentathlon, shooting, taekwondo & weightlifting: Becks Middleton (Press Officer) +86 1507 720 4294
Athletics: Chris Broadbent (Press Officer) +86 134 88 65 25 41
Equestrian: Winnie Murphy (Press Officer) +852 632 357 66
Rowing: Caroline Searle (Press Officer) +86 1507 720 4414
Sailing: Lindsey Bell (Press Officer) +86 1509 227 0939
Swimming: David Richards (Press Officer) +44 7789 926136