RIO DE JANEIRO -- Eric Lamaze has won a bronze medal in individual show jumping at the Rio Olympics.
The Schomberg, Ont., rider and his brown mare Fine Lady 5 knocked down one rail -- the only one they missed in the entire Olympic competition -- to finish third in a jump-off.
"It feels incredible," said Lamaze. "It was a lot of work. First with the jump-off for the team medal that we missed out on and then me leading all the way and the second round today was massive."
Defending champion Nick Skelton of Britain won gold aboard Big Star while Peder Fredricson of Sweden rode All In to silver.
Lamaze had ridden clear through all five rounds of the event to qualify for the six-rider jump-off.
Riding last after both Skelton and Fredricson had posted clean sheets, Lamaze had to be perfect and beat Skelton's time of 42.82 seconds to capture his second career Olympic gold.
Once the rail fell, he was out of contention for the top spot.
Lamaze won gold eight years ago in Beijing aboard Hickstead, his beloved stallion who died of an aortic rupture in 2011.
"I never thought this would happen again," said Lamaze. "There were times when I was not sure if I wanted to keep going. But this makes it all worth it."
Teammates Yann Candele of Caledon, Ont., and Tiffany Foster of North Vancouver, B.C., did not advance to the jump-off.
