Having just watched the Canadians come from behind to force a first-place tie at the end of third and final round of the team show-jumping competition, Team USA stepped up and showed why it's the defending Olympic champion.

In a nail-biting, sudden-death jump-off, the Americans out-leapt their northern neighbors to again claim Olympic equestrian gold.

(From left) Will Simpson, Laura Kraut, Beezie Madden and Mclain Ward of Team USA stand at attention for the American national anthem after capturing team show-jumping gold last night. Edmond Tang

Yesterday's final team round also served as the third qualifying round for the individual competition, which will conclude Thursday.

A brilliant final round by the Canadians saw them record just 4 penalty points to the US's 8. It propelled Team Canada from forth into a first-place tie with 20 overall penalty points since Friday.

The challenging course featured 13 fences. Riders were given 16 attempts and 88 seconds to compete the run.

Switzerland, which had been tied for first with the US after Sunday, fell to forth yesterday with 18 penalty points on the day. Norway surged from sixth to third to claim the bronze medal with just 10 penalty points in the last round, beating the Swiss with just 3 fewer overall penalty points, 27-30.

But the competition wasn't over. A jump-off tiebreaker was needed to determine the champ.

In the jump-off, riders were required to attempt six jumps within 45 seconds, given just seven attempts.

Canada stumbled, earning 4 penalty points. The US riders stayed poised, with all running flawless courses to notch zero penalties.

Mclain Ward on Sapphire, Laura Kraut on Cedric and Will Simpson on Carlsson Vom Dach had secured the US gold.

It was a felled rail by Canada's Jill Henselwood and horse Special Ed that cost the team 4 points. It was undoubtedly a tough loss, especially given that rider Eric Lamaze and horse Hickstead finished their perfect run in just 36.35 seconds - faster than any of Team USA's trio. Making it even worse was that the Canadians were competing with just three riders, as Mac Cone had earlier withdrawn after horse Ole was injured.

Had Cone been able to compete, a perfect run by him would have again tied the Americans, as only the top-three riders' scores are counted.

"We are not disappointed," Lamaze said. "This is very amazing. It is difficult to (compete) with only three riders."

An ecstatic Kraut called the US win amazing.

"We wanted to get the gold medal so badly," she said.

Ward, who was on the gold-medal team in Athens, called the jump-off stressful.

And he's not finished yet. After yesterday, he's tied for second with three other riders. All have just 4 penalty points and trail the 3 of Norway's Tony Andre Hansen and horse Camiro.

Ward's 4 penalty points came from knocking down a rail when attempting to clear a water jump yesterday. Hansen earned just 1 penalty point yesterday to go with his earlier 2.

Ward took responsibility for the missed jump.

"That is my mistake, not my horse's," he said. "I made it a little bit too slow. I needed more momentum for the water fence. She (Sapphire) was phenomenal, but she is starting to tire. She just didn't have the momentum when she made the fault."

Today and tomorrow are off days for jumpers in lieu of dressage. Ward said there's less pressure to win an individual gold on Thursday now that his team has one.

Joining Ward with just 4 penalty points are Lamaze, Belgium's Jos Lansink and Cumano, and Australia's Edwina Alexander atop Itot Du Chateau.

Great Britain's Ben Maher is hot on their hooves with a total of 5 penalty points after his perfect round yesterday.

After the two-day break, the top-35 jumpers will compete Thursday.

All penalty points will be wiped clear to start the day, and the top-20 riders with the lowest penalty total after the semifinal round will advance to the championship round later in the day.

The medal ceremony will immediately follow, concluding the equestrian games.

(HK Edition 08/19/2008 page1)