BERMUDIAN international show jumper Patrick Nisbett said this week he "understood" fellow equestrian Jill Terceira's anger over not being picked to represent the island at this summer's Olympic Games.

Terceira was left fuming after the Bermuda Equestrian Federation chose Nisbett over her to fly the flag at the Summer Games. And she accused the BEF of "selecting" Nisbett over herself to go to the Olympics. Both riders had qualified for the Games at last year's Pan American Games in Brazil ¿ but the International Olympic Committee said that only one rider could go this summer to Hong Kong where the equestrian events will be staged rather than Beijing.

Nisbett, who was in Spain this week for one more show before the Olympics, broke his silence on the issue and said: "I can understand Jill's disappointment ¿ she has worked hard to get to the Olympics. Jill has been on the road a lot (to qualify) ¿ she has done 14 weeks on the road and has put a lot of effort into it so I can understand her disappointment. But at the end of the day the facts are the facts and the horse needed to be qualified and it didn't. So that can't be forgotten and it is a shame. It is shame that both of us couldn't have gone."

Nisbett said that either he or Terceira were going to be disappointed by the BEF decision.

"My view has always been the same ¿ that one of us is going to be disappointed and if it was going to be her (going to the Olympics) I would be proud of her and support her but I would also be disappointed. Different people handle disappointment in different ways.

"It is unfortunate how the whole thing has unfolded. I understand Jill's disappointment in not obtaining the goal that she's worked for. We've all have disappointments. I've had disappointments with other sports and horses on prior occasions. I'm sure I'll deal with it again. The equestrian sport is nothing if not humbling."

While some in Bermuda ¿ not Terceira ¿ questioned whether race played a part in the decision, Nisbett who is black, said: "In response to the implication that race was involved in the selection decision, I believe these allegations to be totally unfounded and find it risible that such implications were made in the first place.

"I am not going to get dragged into all that other stuff but I do understand Jill's position. She has really poured a lot of effort into it."

Of the selection process Nisbett said: "In terms of the actual selection process, you have to bear in mind that this was uncharted waters for all concerned, not least of all the Bermuda Equestrian Federation. Since the Pan Am Games, where Bermuda got the spot for the Games, all parties concerned have had countless discussions on the selection process. A plan was devised and both Jill and I were informed of that plan. But like all best laid plans, it did not play out as it was initially supposed to ¿ i.e. injured horses, foreign show organisers not cooperating. The Federation had no choice but to come up with Plan B, which again Jill and I were duly informed of."

Terceira told the BEF and its chief Mike Cherry that choosing Nisbett to go to the Olympics was "absurd".

She said: "There has been no BEF representation or interest at any of our shows in Europe this year. How can the BEF president, board and international committee assess any horse/rider combination sitting in Bermuda? I believe this absolutely was a 'selection' by the board! The three head to head competitions were not held due to injury (of Navantus) and the fact that Antille was eliminated twice in France. Thus leading up to our final head to head selection trial at CSIO (five star) in Rotterdam where Antille was not capable and not even allowed to compete by the FEI Jumping Committee."

Later Terceira told the Mid-Ocean News that she was angry that she and Nisbett had met the full Olympic qualifications while the rest of the Olympic team (track athletes, swimmers) had been give wild cards to the Games after failing to meet the qualification standards.

"Bermuda has had an equestrian in the Games in the last four or five Games. It is so disheartening because you work a lifetime and you do qualify and yet again still you cannot go. (The IOC) should be encouraging these small countries ¿ not trying to deflate them. Patrick and myself both should be going. It leaves such a bad taste in your mouth when you have to compete against each other. But in the end I am the best ¿ by far ¿ combination with Chaka at this time. I should be selected. I am just livid. Antille is not jumping like she was at the Pan Am Games. The rest of our team are wild cards and we both qualified. I know that many (of the other athletes) are close to qualifying and that is fantastic."

In a statement this week by the BEF, the federation said it was a "shame" that there has been anger over the selection process.

"In our sport we are not dealing solely with two legged athletes, but four legged ones as well, which makes any process more difficult to comprehend. It is unfortunate that the results in this case have not been accepted in a sportsmanlike manner and the media has been bombarded with misinformation, resulting in unnecessary aggravation. The fact that equestrianism is the only sport so far representing Bermuda in the 2008 Games where athletes have reached the required minimum standard, not once but twice, has been lost and this is a shame."

Nisbett was on the road this week travelling to a final show with Antille in La Coruna before the Olympics. But he was struck down by bad luck ¿ twice! "I am having a terrible day," he said yesterday. The Bermudian said his truck had broken down and then he was informed that someone had broken into his tack room back at his England base and stolen much of his equipment.

"They stole my saddles and tack," he said adding that some of his saddles cost $4,000 each. "They took most of my stuff."

He was still miles away from La Coruna yesterday and was trying to get someone to come and get himself and his horse for the show. "The trot-up is 4.p.m. today (Thursday) but the organisers say they will let me trot-up late. This is the last show before I go to the Olympics and it has big jumps and is under lights so it will be similar conditions to that in Hong Kong."

It has been decided that the competition in Hong Kong at the Olympics will be done in the evening so it will be cooler conditions for the horses.

Going to the Olympics has always been a dream of Nisbett.

"I had childhood dreams of going to the Olympics ¿ you watch it on the TV and you say 'I want to ride the Olympics one day' even though it is quite shallow thought at that point ¿ a bit naive. I always said I wanted to ride and represent Bermuda and I laugh back and think when I was a kid at Berkeley Institute and the TV were doing a show interviewing students asking them what they wanted to do in the careers and I said I wanted to be an equestrian and represent Bermuda one day. I got a lot of strange looks!"

But he stayed with his sport eventually moving to England. And then the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro came around last year and both he and Terceira qualified for the Olympics.

"Once the Pan Ams became a reality I thought why not? It is a proud moment to be selected to go although it hasn't completely sunk in yet ¿ but it will once I get there. It is surreal at the moment. I think when I get the horse into quarantine and start moving it will become more of a reality."

Antille goes into quarantine on July 26 in Germany and then will fly out to Hong Kong from Amsterdam on August 3."

And he also has a bit of Bermuda with him at all times.

"I love Collie Buddz. I listen to him all the time when travelling ¿ he is so talented," Nisbett said of the Bermudian singer who has been acclaimed all around the world.