HAVING won an Olympic silver medal at London 2012, North Yorkshire rider Nicola Wilson will attempt to secure more international success when she lines up as part of the British team at the European Eventing Championships that begin in Poland tomorrow.

Wilson, who is based at Morton-on-Swale, near Northallerton, will partner Bulana in the three-day-event in Strzegom, with the opening dressage discipline split over tomorrow and Friday. The cross-country discipline will take place on Saturday, with the competition concluding with Sunday’s show-jumping stage.

Wilson will be joined in the British squad by Rosalind Canter (Allstar B), Tina Cook (Billy The Red), Piggy French (Quarrycrest Echo), Gemma Tattersall (Quicklook V) and Oliver Townend (Colley SRS).

The 40-year-old is enjoying one of her most successful seasons to date, having risen to a career-high fourth in the World Eventing Ranking league table in June.

She heads into the European Championships on the back of a successful weekend at Burgham that saw her claim novice victories with both All We Need and Cooley Conker.

She is partnering Bulana in Poland, a horse owned by James and Jo Lambert, having ridden him to claim second place overall at the prestigious Luhmuhlen event in Germany in June thanks to clear rounds in both the cross-country and show-jumping.

“The British Eventing senior selectors have picked an exciting squad for the European Eventing Championships, combining both experience and current form,” said British Eventing chief executive David Holmes.

“It is great to see new talent coming through with Ros Canter, and five of the horses making their senior championship debut. There have been some impressive results from British riders this year, which will have made the decision for the selectors very tough. It is also encouraging to see such strength in our British combinations.”


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TEES ROWING CLUB trio Kat Copeland, Beth Bryan and Jo Wratten will be hoping for more medal success following confirmation of their selection for next month’s World Rowing Championships in the United States.

The North-East threesome have all enjoyed strong international seasons, and will be part of a 64-strong British squad for the World Championships in Florida, which are the first major global event since last summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Copeland, who won Olympic gold in the lightweight double sculls in London in 2012, failed to make the final in Rio, but the Stokesley star has rediscovered something close to her best form in the last few months alongside new partner Emily Craig.

The pair teamed up to win a bronze medal at the European Championships in Racice earlier this summer, and will link up again at the Worlds, with Copeland hoping to add to the World silver medal she won in 2015.

The 26-year-old will have some Teesside company during the week-long Championships, which begin on September 24, as Bryan and Wratten have both been selected to make their World Championship debut in their first full season in the senior ranks.

Stockton’s Bryan, who is a World silver medallist at Under-23 level, with compete in the quadruple sculls along with Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Holly Nixon and a fourth rower who is still to be confirmed.

The quad won European Championships bronze in May, although the strength of the event at world level means their primary ambition will be to qualify for the final in the US.

Wratten, who is from Middlesbrough, will form part of the women’s eight, and will be hoping to build on the silver medal the crew claimed at the Europeans.

Having won a bronze medal at the final World Cup event in Lucerne, Britain’s new-look women’s eight is clearly extremely competitive despite the absence of a host of established names who won silver at the Rio Olympics, such as Durham’s Jess Eddie.

There is no place in the squad for Chester-le-Street’s Will Fletcher, who has been left out of the lightweight set-up.

“The 2017 World Championships come at the end of a long but rewarding season for the GB Rowing team,” said performance director Sir David Tanner. “We have seen some exceptional performances over the course of the summer to win a number of European Championships and World Cup medals, and we were, of course, pleased to win the overall World Cup title.

“That distinction highlights our consistency across what is a foundation season in our build up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“These Championships are what we’ve built our season around, and we plan to be at our peak in Saratosa at the end of September.”


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LAURA WEIGHTMAN returns to action after her World Championship heroics as she tackles the 1,500m at the Muller Grand Prix in Birmingham this weekend, an event that forms part of the IAAF’s Diamond League series.

Weightman finished sixth in the 1,500m final at the World Championships in London, just over two seconds behind Kenyan gold medallist Faith Kipyegon.

The result made a mockery of UK Athletics’ decision to strip the Morpeth Harrier of her funding last autumn, with Weightman finishing just two places behind fellow Briton Laura Muir, who had been touted as one of the stars of the UK squad.

Muir will not be competing in Birmingham this weekend, but Weightman will be joined by fellow Britons Sarah McDonald and Jenny Meadows as part of a strong international field.

Northallerton’s Marc Scott will compete in the 3,000m after representing Britain in the 5,000m at the Worlds.


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COUNTY DURHAM showjumper Annabel Shields has qualified for the Horse of the Year Show after winning the International Wildcard Qualifier at this month’s British Showjumping National Championships.

Shields partnered Wet Wet Wet to victory as she went clear in the final round to qualify for a five-way jump-off.

She went clear again in the jump-off, with her time of 44.12secs proving too good for anyone to catch.

Shields was crowned British Showjumping national champion for 2017, and secured a wild-card place for the Horse of the Year Show.