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TOKYO – The Springsteen family has gone platinum several times. It’s time to make room for some cash too.
Jessica Springsteen and the US show jumping team came close to Olympic gold, falling to Sweden on Saturday night in a play-off that still left the Americans with a record 10th medal in the event.
This is the first for Springsteen, 29, the daughter of famous rockers Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa who made her Olympic debut in Tokyo. Riding powerful stallion Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, she cut a rail in the primary round on Saturday, as did McLain Ward, leaving the United States tied with the Swedes for first place with eight penalty points.
Springsteen, Laura Kraut and Ward each moved cleanly through the shortened jump-off course in a combined time of 124.2 seconds.
Peder Fredricson, the last Swedish rider, had to circle the track in 40.30 seconds or better without error and clocked a time of 39.01 for the country record, the fourth gold medal, but the first since 1924. The Americans also entered this week with three gold medals.
France had a clear line towards a second straight gold medal when their final rider, Penelope Leprevost, took the course. Needing to finish with less than five points to win without a jump-off, Leprevost’s horse refused twice, disqualifying her and the France team.
This left the Americans and the Swedes tied for the lead and necessitated the play-off.
This is the second consecutive silver medal for the US team, which won their last gold in 2008, also with Kraut and Ward on the team.
Springsteen said after Friday’s qualifying round that his parents were watching from home as athletes were not allowed to bring their families to Japan amid the coronavirus pandemic.
She said she was inspired to start horseback riding after watching her mother take lessons and start training at the family farm in Colts Neck, New Jersey.
Swedish runners Henrik von Eckermann and Malin Baryard-Johnsson joined Fredricson to win the gold medal.
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