Just a Pony, but Riding High

Undersized 'Teddy,' O'Connor Lead U.S. to Equestrian Gold

Theodore O'Connor, a pony just 14.1 hands tall, and rider Karen O'Connor of The Plains, Va., won two gold medals in the eventing portion of the equestrian competition yesterday at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"It's a fairy tale," Karen O'Connor said. "He's such a wonderful horse. A lot of people have put a lot of faith in him, and he has developed into a real top athlete regardless of his size."

Karen O'Connor won the individual eventing gold medal, and teammates Phillip Dutton (Truluck) and Gina Miles (McKinlaigh) were second and third, respectively. That sweep -- plus Darren Chiacchi's (Better I Do It) fourth-place finish and Stephen Bradley (From) of Leesburg in 13th -- gave the Americans the team gold as well.

Eventing is the triathlon of equestrian competition and includes a cross-country race, dressage and show jumping events held over three days.

"Teddy," as the 11-year-old pony is known, is far smaller than most horses in the equestrian competitions. McKinlaigh, the Irish sport horse ridden by Miles, is 17.3 hands tall. A hand is four inches.

Bred by P. Wynn Norman, Teddy is a thoroughbred-Arabian-Shetland cross.

Karen O'Connor is a two-time Olympic medalist (1996 and 2000). Dutton was competing for the United States for the first time after winning two gold medals for Australia.

· SWIMMING: U.S. swimmers won five golds, two silvers and a bronze to bring their medals total to 38 (19-14-5). The leader of the medals haul was Julia Smit, who won gold in the 400-meter medley relay -- she swam the backstroke leg -- and silver behind Teresa Crippen in the 200 backstroke. That gave Smit four golds and a silver.

Also on the women's relay that set a games record of 4 minutes 4.60 seconds, were Michelle McKeehan, Kathleen Hersey and Maritz Correia. Hersey won four golds at Pan Ams, too.

Randall Bal won the 100 backstroke in a games record 53.66, edging teammate Peter Marshall. Then Bal, Mark Gangloff, Ricky Berens and Andy Grant took the 400 medley relay with another Pan Am record time.

Caitlin Leverenz was the other U.S. winner, taking the women's 200 breaststroke in yet another games record, 2:25.62.

· FIELD HOCKEY: The U.S. men lost any chance of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics when they were beaten, 4-1, by Cuba.

· BOXING: Two Cubans, bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux, who won the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, and Erislandy Lara, a top welterweight, didn't show up for their fights and were disqualified.

· TABLE TENNIS: Four matches, four wins for the U.S. squad. The victories earned all of the competitors spots in the quarterfinals.

The U.S. women started strongly against Colombia, winning three matches. Jun Gao Chang (Gaithersburg) won the first individual match, then Tawny Banh (San Gabriel, Calif.) was successful. Chang and Chen Wang (New York) won the doubles.