Jillian Terceira upstaged some of the world's best at the Olympic individual showjumping competition in Hong Kong last night, and put herself in position to qualify for next Thursday's final.

It was a magnificent performance - undoubtedly the highlight, she said, of a long international career.

A total of just five penalty points left the Holland-based Bermudian and her horse, Chaka III, in a tie for 39th place.

And she can improve on that in a second qualifying round tomorrow (Sunday) when the top 50 will advance to a third qualifier next week from which a maximum of 35 will go through.

From that field, 20 will compete for a place on the podium.

"I'm very, very pleased. Chaka jumped brilliantly," said Terceira. "But for that little mistake at the fourth, it was just a super ride.

"We're in good position going into the next round. I'm excited."

On a course that proved too tough for many of the world's top equestrians, Terceira was foiled by just one of the 15 daunting fences.

That error (four penalty points) and a time penalty (one point) left her with just a total of five.

Chef de Mission Heidi Mello commented: "It was brilliant. She finished with the same points total as the current world champion, that should tell you something."

Earlier in the week, Terceira had hinted that making the top half of the 77-strong field would be a tall order.

But she's now given herself a fighting chance to do just that, placing ahead of many of the world's best, some of who simply couldn't handle the high fences.

Having to wait until late in the evening - Chaka was 69th in the jumping order - would have done little to calm the nerves on what was Terceira's long-awaited Olympic debut.

And performing before a sell-out and noisy crowd wasn't expected to help her 15-year-old mount.

But the pair rarely looked troubled, a slight mistake at the fourth fence - not considered the most difficult - where Chaka rattled the woodwork proved the pair's undoing.

But together they soared over the huge water jump and glided over both the difficult double and treble combinations.

It was a performance that brought wild cheers from Bermuda's equestrian contingent - Mello, groom Debbie Kleot, coach Norman Dello Joio and veterinarian Michele Heyvaert. Now they have to do it all over again tomorrow night.