Mark Watring has had a very well rounded riding career. His most recent success has been in the Show Jumping arena, but before that he was also doing dressage, steeple chase and roads and tracks in 3 day Eventing competitions. From 1979 to 1984 he represented the United States for Eventing. In 1982 he was an Alternate for the U.S. at the World Championships held in Germany. He rode in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles as an Eventer, only to return 20 years later in Athens to ride in the Show Jumping competition on Sapphire!

Mark's place of birth is Puerto Rico, giving him dual citizenship in Puerto Rico and the United States. In 1984, he made the decision to represent his birthplace in International Competition. Both Mark and Puerto Rico have been very happy with that choice! A few of the highlights he's seen since riding for Puerto Rico are:

1984 and 2004 Olympics
1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis for eventing
2001 American Grand Prix Association Rookie of the Year
2002 Gold Medalist, Central American Games in El Salvador
2003 Gold Medalist, Pan American Games in Dominican Republic
2006 Gold Medalist, Central American Games in Bogota, Columbia
2007 Pan American Games in Brazil

The only rider representing Puerto Rico, Watring posted a score of .83 in the opening Individual Qualifier on Wednesday. Following four additional jumping rounds, Watring only had one rail down and accumulated one time fault to finish the show jumping events with a final total of 5.83 riding Sapphire, an 11-year-old grey Holsteiner gelding by Liostro. In fact, Watring had two rails in hand coming into the final round and made use of one half way around the course at fence 5. Much to the delight of a large Puerto Rican cheering section, Watring continued to jump clear to win the gold medal over Kappler.

"There was a bit of pressure because Chris was right on my tail," commented Watring, who lives and trains in California. "I needed to be in the top four individually to qualify for the Olympics, so earning the gold medal in the process is just the icing on the cake."

Kappler, who was in the silver medal position coming into the Individual Final, held onto his placing with Royal Kaliber. In the opening round, Kappler of Pittstown, NJ, incurred four faults when Royal Kaliber, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion by Ramiro, knocked down a standard at fence six. He repeated the four-fault effort in round two when he knocked down the planks at fence two. A final total of 10.40 points was strong enough to secure the silver medal.

"My horse had a super week," said Kappler, 36, making his major games appearance for the United States Equestrian Team. "He's been great all year for me and this week he truly shined." Margie Goldstein-Engle of Wellington, FL, was in fifth position heading into the Final, but a clear in the first round and only four faults in the second round, also at the planks, moved the 2000 Olympian into bronze medal position.

"I thought my horse jumped excellent, he was clear in the first round and in the second round, I think I angled it too much to the planks at fence two and had the knock-down," said Goldstein-Engle of her performance riding Hidden Creek's Perin, a 14-year-old Westphalian gelding by Pageno. American Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY, sitting in third coming into the Individual Final, was eliminated in the first round when her 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion, Conquest II, twice refused the final element of the triple combination. Through their placings at the 2003 Pan American Games, Canada, Colombia and Puerto Rico all earned one individual berth for the Olympic Games in 2004 while Brazil secured two individual berths. Three of the nine teams competing at the Pan American Games qualified for Athens on Thursday - Argentina, Mexico and the United States. Held at the newly constructed Palmarejo Equestrian Center in Santo Domingo, 43 riders representing 12 nations participating in the show jumping events at the 2003 Pan American Games. The next Pan American Games will be held in 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For further information on the equestrian events at the Pan American Games, please visit the Dominican Republic Equestrian Federation's website at: www.ecuestrerd.com and the official 2003 Pan American Games website at www.santodomingo2003.com.