Irelands eventers have secured Olympic qualification, as a result of an outstanding fourth-place finish at the FEI World Championships in Aachen today.Sam Griffiths squad of Ian Cassells with Millridge Atlantis (ISH), Pdraig McCarthy with MGH Zabaione (ISH), Austin OConnor with Colorado Blue, and Aoife Clark with Full Monty de Lacense (main pic above), were in contention for a superb bronze medal right to death but were denied by USA.Assuring that they would be in the line-up for the Los Angeles Games in 2028 was the primary target for last years European Championship silver medallists, however.Six places were on offer, though with USA guaranteed participation as hosts, seventh would have been enough.The quartet sat in seventh position, on 93.3 penalties, after the first dressage phase which took place over Thursday and Friday,After clear jumping rounds by all four team members, as well as individual competitor Georgie Goss (riding Kojak), in yesterdays cross-country, Ireland moved up to fourth position overnight.To only clock up time penalties was a tremendous collective effort, given the rate of attrition.This was evidenced by the fact that the other nations locked in a three-way battle for the bronze, Switzerland and USA, did not have the luxury of a discard score each of them had a combination eliminated.Ireland lay less than a fence behind the Swiss on 110.1 penalties, and just ahead of USA going into todays show jumping, with Britain and Germany occupying the top two berths.Crucially, Griffiths Green Jackets had put themselves in a very strong position with regard to Olympic qualification and they made no mistake in that regard.Cassells was first into the arena with the Sean OLoughlin-bred Millridge Atlantis (owned by Ber, Fiona and Gerry Leahy) but nine faults was a disappointing returnMcCarthy and his homebred MGH Zabaione (Peter Cattell and Diane Brunsden) posted 4.2 faults, while OConnor and his trusty 17-year-old Colorado Blue (The Salty Syndicate) had four faults. Salty jumped with exuberance and was almost perfect but got a bit tight to the fourth-last, flicking the rail off for four faults.Austin OConnor and the brilliant Colorado Blue got proceedings off to a brilliant start with 29 penalties in the dressageClark showed all her horsemanship on Full Monty de Lacense (The Ace Of Spades Syndicate) to post four faults. The 11-year-old gelding was full of vim and vigour and tanked around the track. His Kildare rider kept a lid on him expertly but Monty did not get his front end up high enough at the oxer three from home.That meant that Cassells nine could be discarded, leaving Ireland with a cumulative tally of 122.5 faults.USA and Switzerland swapped their overnight placings for the former to complete the podium, as Britain claimed gold from the hosts, Germany.All five Irish representatives finished inside the top 30 of the individual rankings, with Clark the highest in 11th.The dual Olympian, who finished seventh individually at the London Games in 2012, is optimistic about the future but admitted to feeling that this result was a little bittersweet.It has been a fantastic week, said Clark. The team spirit was great, the horses all jumped well and everyone rode well, and Georgie did really well in the individual too.Everyone was saying that the Olympic qualification was the priority, and it was, and it means a lot to have it, but we were a little disappointed not to get the medal. And I suppose that shows how far we have come, that we have that ambition.Fourth in the world is a bloody good result. And there is a lot to look forward to. Our horses are very young. Okay, you have Salty, who was brilliant again but the other three horses are 10, 11 and 12. If you look at the teams we were battling against for the medal, Switzerland and USA, and even Great Britain and Germany, they had horses that were far more experienced and some of those wont be around in two years.My horse is such an athlete and I was so proud. He used to be quite nervous and Aachen is one of the most atmospheric arenas around. He definitely got a bit lit up and didnt make the shape he can over his jumps but he is so young and would not have been in that sort of atmosphere before.He will learn, and in that respect, it was brilliant for the entire team. We would love to have had a medal and were disappointed not to get it, but we are in there among the best in the world now and thats where we want to be.Michael Jung gave the home crowd something to shout about with the individual gold on fischerChipmunk FRH, while silver went to Ros Canter (GBR) with Lordships Graffalo and her fellow Briton Laura Collett, with London 52, were third.BREEDINGMILLRIDGE ATLANTIS (ISH) 2014 gelding by Dinan Cascaletto (ISH) out of Kereen Sue (ISH) by Warrenstown You 2 (ISH). Breeder: Sean OLoughlin, Co Kilkenny. Owner: Ber, Fiona & Gerry Leahy. Rider: Ian Cassells (IRL)MGH ZABAIONE (ISH) 2016 brown stallion by Zavall VDL (KWPN) out of Vancara VDL (KWPN) by Acobat II (HOLST). Breeder: Pdraig McCarthy, Co Tipperary. Owner: Peter Cattell, Diane Brunsden. Rider: Pdraig McCarthy (IRL)The post Irish eventers seal Olympic qualification appeared first on .