The overall standings of Irish riders in the Longines world top 50 have improved substantially since the Irish team won the European Gold medal at Gothenburg last month.

Cian O’Connor, who added an individual Bronze to the Swedish medal haul, is now the highest-ranked, jumping from 25th to 19th in the list published by the FEI today.

Bertram Allen, who did not take part in the final rounds at Gothenburg, is at No. 20, a drop of three places from the previous month, but European medallist Denis Lynch has jumped eight places to 27th, while team-mate Shane Sweetnam is also up eight places, and is now 35th in the table, which reflects international show jumping performances during August, and includes results from key shows such as Dublin and Brussels.

Other Irish riders included in the top 50 are Daniel Coyle (41st) and Darragh Kenny (43rd), while four more feature in the world top 100 – Conor Swail (54th), Shane Breen (58th), Billy Twomey (76th) and Richie Moloney (81st).

Still leading the world rankings for the fifth consecutive month is the USA’s Kent Farrington. Italy’s Lorenzo de Luca has moved up to second place, while another US rider, McLain Ward, is in third place.

The FEI Longines world rankings list over 3,000 riders competing internationally.

Jack Burns