Royal sportswoman Zara Phillips has staked a claim to represent Great Britain in equestrianism at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
 | ZARA PHILLIPS FACTFILE Born: 15 May, 1981 Family: Daughter of Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips Succession: Tenth in line to the throne Boyfriend: On-off romance with jockey Richard Johnson |
The 22-year-old was just edged out into second place after a remarkable performance on her debut at the Burghley Horse Trials.
Her display confirmed she is set to follow in the famous three-day eventing footsteps of her parents, the Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips
And in the process Zara, who is 10th in line to the throne, is catapulting the sport back into the headlines.
Eventing, which consists of dressage, cross-country and showjumping, reached new popularity in the early 1970s when the Princess Royal won Burghley and became European champion.
Those achievements helped her to become the only rider ever to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
She also represented the British team at the 1976 Olympics.
Captain Phillips, who is now divorced from the princess, won gold in the team event at the 1972 Olympics and triumphed at Burghley a year later.
Now Zara, voted one of the world's 100 sexiest women in a poll by FHM magazine, has caught the eye of selectors.
The team for Athens is not likely to be announced until the weeks before the Games, which take place in August 2004.
But Zara demonstrated at Burghley in Lincolnshire that she has developed a brilliant understanding with her horse Toytown.
The pair were denied the title in a dramatic showjumping finale, knocking over the third from last obstacle, when a clear round would have been enough.
It meant fellow Briton Pippa Funnell became the first rider to win eventing's Grand Slam - with victories at Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley.
Funnell, who had been aboard Primmore's Pride, picked up a �160,000 bonus prize for her extraordinary feat, but took time out to praise the runner-up.
"We've never had pressure like Zara's had. She did a fantastic job," said Funnell.
|  Zara Phillips is very much the new star on the scene |
Zara, who earned silver in the European young riders' event in 2002, was competing at the highest level for the first time and would have settled for a top-10 finish beforehand.
"I'm chuffed to bits to come second in my first four-star event. I couldn't wish for anything more," said Zara.
Kiwi Andrew Nicholson, winner of Burghley in 1995 and 2000, hailed her efforts.
"The pressure she is under must be enormous," he told the BBC.
"For someone her age to go round the course clear is very impressive. She's a very, very talented girl."
BBC pundit Clare Balding said: "Zara is very much the new star on the scene.
"You couldn't have written the script any better. She made an incredible debut."
Zara's latest exploits will ensure she builds on her status as an A-list celebrity who is a darling of the national press.
She was in the spotlight as a teenager when spotted sporting a tongue stud, and is fast becoming a fashion icon.
Her on-off romance with leading jump jockey Richard Johnson has also attracted attention, with the couple once having a very public fall-out.
Yet they were splashed across the front pages in March when Zara gave Johnson a kiss in front of a huge crowd after he won the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on Rooster Booster.
Maybe not quite the new Posh and Becks, more Posh and Ex, but the couple's horsing around is adding a touch of glamour to the equine world.
MMIX
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