Paris 2024 Eventing: GBR Hold Team Lead After Cross Country

Photo Credit: FEI/Benjamin Clark

Great Britain continues to hold the lead in the Eventing team competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after a thrilling day of Cross-Country action in the magnificent parkland of Château De Versailles today.  

Team Germany – second after yesterday’s opening Dressage phase – today saw a bump off the saddle for Christoph Wahler (Carjatan S) resulting in elimination – putting them 14th of 16 competing nations, as the action resumes with tomorrow’s medal-deciding Jumping phase.

To the delight of the thousands of French fans who turned out to enjoy wonderful sport in the most spectacular of venues today, it is the hosts – Team France – that sit in the silver medal spot. Japan – following three brilliant rounds – have moved up from overnight fifth into bronze medal position,  followed by Switzerland, Belgium and New Zealand in the next three placings. 

The running score of 82.50 for Britain leaves them just 4.7 penalty points ahead of the French, while Japan are 6.6 points further behind.

Meanwhile a masterclass of Cross-Country riding saw Germany’s final team member, Michael Jung (Chipmunk FRH), overtake Laura Collett (London 52) at the top of the individual leaderboard when the British rider picked up time penalties. Adding nothing to his Dressage score, Australia’s Christopher Burton (Shadow Man) held on to bronze medal spot, so it’s even closer in the battle for individual medals.

Jung leads on his score of 17.80 and Collett, who yesterday posted an even higher record-breaking Olympic Eventing Dressage score of 17.50, goes into tomorrow’s final phase on a mark of 18.30, while Burton – on 22.00 – can’t afford any mistakes because fourth-placed Felix Vogg from Switzerland (Dao De L’ocean) is breathing down his neck on a running tally of 22.10.

It’s going to be a nail-biting conclusion when Jumping gets underway at 10.30am local time.

First out

First out on the track today, defending individual Olympic champion Julia Krajewski from Germany, showed just how to tackle it when coming home with Nickel 21 adding only time faults to her scoreline. “I was maybe a bit careful in the beginning – the ground changes a lot and you lose time here and there, but the most important is that he should be happy and fit for the last three minutes, so I didn’t want to push him too much in the beginning. 

“He did everything absolutely perfectly and in the last water I didn’t take the safer option and – he did it like a pro, so that makes me very proud of him! He’s so rideable and honest!”

Wahler was next to go for Germany, but his unplanned dismount suddenly dropped his team out of contention – but that didn’t mean that Jung, going late in the order, and with all the confidence in the world, wouldn’t give it his best shot. He has twice won the individual Olympic title and he’s more than keen to make that happen again. Coming home with Chipmunk FRH in 8 minutes 55 seconds – well inside the time-allowed of 9 minutes 2 seconds – they strutted into the individual lead.    

“Today was a lot of moments to enjoy. Chipmunk made it very easy for me. Every jump was easy – he was so well listening and connected to me, and so powerful galloping”, Jung said. He felt his horse was cruising so easily that they were under absolutely no pressure. “I checked the time, and said ‘OK we have more time at the next fence so slow down, slow down!’ It was an unbelievable feeling. I’m so thankful to have such good horses, and to be at my fourth Olympic Games is a dream. It’s always a special feeling (at Olympic Games), even if it’s the first time here”, he said.

Asked if he is concerned about tomorrow’s final Jumping test he replied, “normally he show-jumps very well and he wasn’t a bit tired at the end today. In fact he felt so good he wanted to do it all over again! It was so enjoyable and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. He’s in top shape at the moment”. 

Amazing Versailles fans 

Like so many of the other athletes, Jung was enthralled by the enthusiasm of the crowds who packed the Cross-Country sidelines all the way around the track. 

“They were unbelievable! So many people are here watching the course, it’s fantastic! And Chipmunk didn’t mind – I think he had so much fun galloping around the park!”

Impressed

Collett described her tour of the track as “Such a buzz!” She decided not to jump the ditch following the drop at fence 16, which proved the undoing of Germany’s Wahler, instead taking the left-hand option. 

“Up until this morning I was planning to jump the right-hand corner, but I watched a few and it looked like the striding to the left corner was a bit easier and more obvious for the horses so I changed my mind. I felt the ditch was a bit of a nothing ditch and there were too many unknown circumstances there about how he would read it and jump it. And with only three strides to the double brush I felt that was an unnecessary risk – some of the first ones that went didn’t make a mistake, but they didn’t understand the question”, she explained. 

While Jung is super-confident about his horse in tomorrow’s deciding Jumping phase, Collett is more reserved about her prospects with London 52. The atmospheric stadium at Versailles will certainly play its part on the final day in this discipline. “He was very spooky in Tokyo with the crowd, so I’m just hoping he will turn up tomorrow like he has the last few days!”, she said. 

It certainly won’t faze Burton who turned away from his lifetime involvement in Eventing for a few years to specialise in Jumping instead, but who was lured back to his original passion when offered the ride on Shadow Man this spring. However, even though the Australian has a world of experience behind him, he’s not taking anything for granted when it comes to tomorrow’s final test.

“I’m trying not to think about that at the moment, I don’t want to get too nervous ahead of tomorrow, so I’ll just make sure the horse is OK and happy this evening, and give him a jump in the morning and see how he feels and hopefully I can do my best!”, he said.

Into contention

Felix Vogg secured the Swiss team’s improvement from seventh to fourth place with his brilliant run with Dao De L’ocean that also left him fourth individually. He came prepared for all the excitement but found himself overwhelmed by how well the relatively inexperienced 11-year-old gelding coped with it all. 

“I began with my plan over the first part of the course but I didn’t get a good ride over the first few fences, so I left the horse to do it himself – and he was fantastic! I knew the crowd would be huge here so I went to Wiesbaden (GER, CCI4* S, which he won) to train this because there the crowd is even closer than here, and I did it to train him especially for the Olympics”, he explained. That certainly paid off today.

And the brilliant Japanese trio of Ryuzo Kitajima (Cekatinka), Yoshiaki Oiwa (MGH Grafton Street) and Kazuma Tomoto (Vinci de la Vigne) were so rock solid when slotting into bronze medal spot. They all have their own British trainers, Oiwa guided by Pippa Funnell, Tomoto trained by William Fox-Pitt and Kitajima working closely with Angela Tucker. They quietly cruised into a medal position when both Tomoto and Oiwa added nothing to their scores.

Credited

Oiwa credited Funnell for the performance that sees them in individual fifth place this evening, loving the Cross-Country experience today. “It was so beautiful – all the way around people cheering for us, the atmosphere was amazing, and this is just an amazing horse. I’ve only been riding him for the last three months but he knows everything! From the beginning I was trying to get the time. Pippa gave me a lot of advice and all the instructions, so it has made it possible for me to do this!”, he said.

Meanwhile, the French have every reason to be very happy with their day today as well. The wall of chers and elation when each one of them set out across the course was extraordinary, the spectators urging them on with every stride. And when Nicolas Touzaint, second-last to go, set sail with Diabolo Menthe there was a Mexican wave of wild cheering that followed him with every stride.  

“It was so amazing, I always expected they would make a lot of noise, but I couldn’t believe how fantastic they were all the way around the course!” However the French are not getting too carried away with it all. As Touzaint said this afternoon “it’s not over until it’s over. Tonight we take care of our horses and spend some quiet time together as a team, because tomorrow there is still a lot more work to be done…..”

Showjumping will decide the medals tomorrow, after the trot up in the morning. Sky viewers can catch all the action on Discovery+ for free. If you’ve not got sky, the subscription for the channel is currently on a special offer for only £3.99 a month.

Leaderboard here.