Todd treads careful path

Todd will retire when the Sydney Games finish

Legendary New Zealand rider Mark Todd will not forget his Olympic finale in a hurry.

On a dramatic day marred by a string of falls, Todd, who will retire after the Sydney Games, was twice stopped in his tracks on the cross-country track because of falls.

"I just couldn't believe it," he said. "I have never been stopped twice before. I'd gone about three minutes and got pulled up. I then went another four minutes and got pulled up again."

Todd finished the day standing in the bronze medal position behind American David O'Connor, who leads on board Custom Made with just the showjumping to come.

Greece's Heidi Antikatzidis is second on Michaelmas.

The British trio of Mary King, Karen Dixon and Ian Stark stand in 8th, 9th and 10th places respectively.

Starting just before Todd, Brazilian Robert Macedo fractured his pelvis while Dane Nils Haagensen broke a shoulder.

Sickening fall

Macedo suffered a sickening fall, prompting fears of another fatality in a year that has already witnessed the deaths of 10 riders around the world.

His horse, Fricote, clipped the top of one of the fences and landed steeply, crashing straight down on the rider.

You always get nervous before the start of a cross-country. This one in particular I did not want to mess up

  Mark Todd

Five horses fell on the undulating course in total. One, the Bermudan entry Bermuda's Gold, suffered a fractured cannon bone after landing heavily over one of the early fences.

It was later put down after the fracture was deemed inoperable.

Todd, who lies in the bronze medal position on Eyespy II, was the first to admit he was nervous on his last Olympic cross-country appearance.

"I was pleased to get through that finishing line," said the greatest three-day eventer the sport has ever known.

Nervous

"You always get nervous before the start of a cross-country. This one in particular I did not want to mess up.

"That is the biggest worry you have. The main reason for getting nervous is you don't want to make a mistake, you don't want to have 20 penalties, you don't want to do something stupid."

Todd won two individual gold medals in the Olympics and 25 international three-day events, more than anyone in the history of the sport.

Known for his stunning successes with chance rides taken at the last moment, he was picked as the event rider of the 20th century.