Equestrian: Hilmarton based Samantha Albert looks set to become the first ever rider to represent Jamaica in the equestrian events at an Olympic Games.
The 36-year-old has qualified her chestnut mare Before I Do It, a horse bred by her Swedish mother-in-law, for the 2008 Olympic three-day event, which will take place at Hong Kong.
The Canadian-born rider, who could have ridden for four different countries, chose to compete for Jamaica, the country where her mother Elizabeth was born and where she spent much of her childhood.
"It is very expensive as I have to fund the Olympic trip myself, but the chance to ride at the Olympics is one you just can not miss and my mother is busy fundraising in Jamaica," she said.
"I originally produced Before I Do It as a five-year-old but then sold her, buying her back as a nine-year-old."
The pair have twice competed the dressage phase at Badminton, in 2006 and 2007, but on both occasions pulled out before cross country.
The duo made sure of their Olympic qualifying status when they completed CIC Three Star sections at both Barroca in Portugal and Chatsworth in Derbyshire, finishing 30th and 24th respectively.
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