Fox-Pitt withdrawal ruins medal chase

British medal hopes were dealt a blow last night by the withdrawal of William Fox-Pitt and Tamarillo from the three-day event competition.

British medal hopes were dealt a blow last night by the withdrawal of William Fox-Pitt and Tamarillo from the three-day event competition.

The injury to the horse's stifle - the equivalent of the human knee - all but curtails the Great Britain team's hopes of landing a medal from a competition in which they were hoping for gold.

It completed a terrible day for the team, who had started in gold medal position in the team event and ended the day in fourth. Pippa Funnell, on Primmore's Pride, had a poor cross-country, dropping from second to eighth in individual standings.

Will Connell, the team leader, said: "Of course, the whole team are extremely upset for William, Tamarillo and the owners of the horse. William had an outstanding result when riding at Badminton this year and this is a very unfortunate way to end his Olympic campaign."