Royal seal of approval for Zara and Co as Team GB roar to eventing silver

PUBLISHED: 12:54, 31 July 2012 | UPDATED: 16:57, 31 July 2012

Team GB have won their fourth medal of the London 2012 Olympics after the equestrian team celebrated silver in the three-day eventing competition.

The British quintet, which includes Zara Phillips, came second behind the Germans.

Silver show: Nicola Wilson, Zara Phillips, William Fox-Pitt, Mary King and Tina Cook on the podium

Royal seal of approval: Phillips rides High Kingdom on day three of the eventing

Tina Cook entered the final showjumping round knowing a run consisting of less than seven points would earn Team GB silver and she responded with just one time penalty to the delight of the home crowd.

Their brave gold medal challenge ultimately came up short as European champions and Olympic title favourites Germany took gold, with New Zealand clinching bronze.

Royal box: King produced a faultless round in her sixth Olympic Games

Cook's finale gave Britain their 18th Olympic post-war eventing medal alongside her team-mates of Phillips, Nicola Wilson, William Fox-Pitt and Mary King, who is competing in her sixth Games.

After New Zealand's Mark Todd had one fence down it meant Cook, a double Olympic bronze medallist four years ago, could afford to have one fence down and still secure silver for her country.

Centre of attention: Princess Kate Middleton is flanked by Prince William and Harry at North Greenwich Park

And she collected just one time fault, meaning she had one of three counting scores alongside King, who jumped clear, and the Queen's granddaughter Phillips, who had seven faults.

Phillips, making her Olympic debut on High Kingdom, was watched from the stands by her mother the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Support: The Duchess of Cornwall (left) and Princess Anne watches the final day of eventing action

Support: The Duchess of Cornwall (left) and Princess Anne watch the final day of eventing action

But she was disappointed with her round, which saw her knock the second fence down and also have three time faults.

Speaking immediately after the round, Phillips said: 'I messed up, and I had to get on with it.'

Wave your flag: Team GB were supported by a partisan crowd

Britain's eventers had not won gold since Munich in 1972, when Phillips' father Captain Mark Phillips was in the team, but they gave it everything against a crack German quintet of world champion Michael Jung, Ingrid Klimke, Peter Thomsen, Dirk Schrade and Sandra Auffarth.

Cook was relieved not to let her team down. 'To be honest [I was] just trying to focus on jumping a clear round,' she told BBC One.

Over the fence: Phillips will be presented her medal from her mother Princess Anne

Meet Team GB's eventing quintet

Tina Cook
Age: 41
Lives: Sussex

A double Olympic bronze medallist four years ago, Cook is the daughter of the late Grand National-winning trainer Josh Gifford. Her Olympic horse Miners Frolic has recovered from a life-threatening illness suffered barely 12 months ago to win another Olympic medal.

William Fox-Pitt
Age: 43
Lives: Sturminster Newton, Dorset

Old Etonian Fox-Pitt is one of the most decorated riders in eventing, winning Olympic, world and European medals, plus numerous high-profile events such as Badminton, Burghley and Kentucky. He is married to Channel 4 racing presenter Alice Plunkett, and they have two children with a third on the way.

Mary King
Age: 51
Lives: Salcombe Regis, Devon

King, the oldest female member of Team GB at London 2012 and in her sixth successive Games, has enjoyed a glittering career that includes two Olympic team medals. Her husband David is a farmer, while her teenage daughter Emily was a member of last year's British junior eventing squad.

Zara Phillips
Age: 31
Lives: Cheltenham

The 2006 world champion is making her Olympic debut at London 2012. Her mother the Princess Royal and father Captain Mark Phillips are also Olympians, with Mark Phillips part of the gold medal-winning British team in Munich 40 years ago. The Queen's granddaughter is married to former England rugby star Mike Tindall, and they celebrated their first wedding anniversary yesterday.

Nicola Wilson
Age: 35
Lives: Northallerton

Wilson is a world and European team gold medallist, but only gained her place for London after an injury suffered by Piggy French's horse DHI Topper W meant she had to pull out. Wilson has a degree in sport and business management, and lives with her husband Alistair in North Yorkshire.

'The team has done so well and it was so close, we could have got silver or nothing, and that would have been awful. 'Gold would have been brilliant, silver is fantastic.'

For Cook, the achievement was all the more emotional given Miners Frolic almost died after suffering from colitis last year.

'It's almost a fairytale,' she said. 'What can I say? It's [down] to the vets that kept him alive and the team at home that we got him here.

'It has been very stressful, a lot of grey hair and wrinkles. When it comes to this, and the crowd, it's unbelievable.'

King, who won Olympic team medals in 2004 and 2008, once again came up trumps when it mattered.

She punched their air in delight after jumping the last fence on Imperial Cavalier, with her performance following a blistering clear round in yesterday's demanding cross-country test.

'He felt quite different from usual today,' King said. 'The tension meant he went with his head high and flat in his body. It probably did not look pretty, but at least we managed to go clear.

'I just tried to blank everything out and pretend I was in a training session at Addington (in Buckinghamshire) where we had our training camp.

'I said to myself "come on Mary, it's up to you" and it worked.'

Cook's performance on Miners Frolic was a remarkable feat of composure and accuracy under the most suffocating pressure.

She called on all her previous top-level experience - two Olympic medals and the 2009 European individual title - to give Britain the round they required.

Cook added: 'It was very much mind over matter. 'I was just focused about what I had been working on, focused on the course, desperately trying not to get a time fault.

'I did get my time fault, which I was really frustrated about. 'Team silver is in the bag, which is absolutely brilliant.'

World No 1 Fox-Pitt, who had a discount score of 53.30, despite jumping clear, has added another silver to his considerable medal collection.

'We are all being carried along on this wave of craziness, ' said Fox-Pitt, of the London 2012 experience.

'This is something we have never experienced in our careers and never will again. It's just not normal.'

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Tuesday, 31 July 2012