Equestrianism: Lennon a natural-born winner

Dermott Lennon brought the World Equestrian Games to a stirring conclusion yesterday, when he rode four polished rounds to become Ireland's first world champion for show jumping.

The modest 32-year-old from Banbridge in County Down, whose international career only began in 1999, won with just one error during the four rounds of the horse-swapping final.

Eric Navet, who won the title for France in 1990 and was strongly fancied for a repeat success, took the silver medal with eight faults, ahead of Peter Wylde of the United States on a 12-fault total.

Sweden's Helena Lundback, only the second woman to reach the four-rider final, finished fourth on 19 faults.

Lennon, following in the footsteps of Eddie Macken, who was Ireland's silver medallist in 1974 and 1978, believes the seeds of his success were sown through the variety of young horses he had ridden at home before his international career took off.

"We used to take a lorry load of horses to shows in Ireland every weekend," he said. "It's natural for me to sit on a horse and get the feel of it."

He began with a clear round on his own mount, the 11-year-old mare Liscalgot, before getting the feel of Wylde's Fein Cera and Navet's Dollar du Murier, who both went clear for him.

Lennon's single error came on Lundback's Utfors Mynta, who is little more than a pony, but by then he could afford to have one fence down and still win the title he will hold until the next World Games in Germany in 2006.

Navet, whose Dollar du Murier was the leading horse after the three qualifying contests, felt his mount deserved to be world champion. "He was the only one not to have a pole down all week," he said. But the rider was making no such claims for himself.

"I had a bad ride to the triple bar on Mynta," he said, after making one of his two errors on Lundback's little mare.

"I didn't deserve to win, but Dermott did. He was brilliant today."