The British Olympic Association (BOA) has today announced the three squads of riders who will travel to France this summer to represent Team GB in the equestrian competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The equestrian events will be held at the historic Palace of Versailles, providing a stunning backdrop for the competitions. This year’s venue adds a unique and prestigious element to the games, emphasizing the blend of sport and culture.
Among the talented athletes, Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester are set to lead the dressage team, bringing their Olympic experience and multiple medals to the competition. The eventing team will feature top riders such as Oliver Townend and Laura Collett, both of whom have demonstrated exceptional performances in recent international events. The show jumping squad includes Scott Brash and Ben Maher, who are expected to deliver strong performances based on their past Olympic successes.
Dressage
The squad of four representing dressage offers a mix of experience and young talent with Carl Hester set to compete in his seventh Games while his protégé Charlotte Dujardin will be hoping to become Britain’s most decorated female Olympian, should she claim a medal in Paris of any colour. Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Fry will be looking to build on her Tokyo experience and is reigning World Champion, whilst Becky Moody will look to make her Games debut.
Eventing
Team GB’s eventing team will be looking to defend their Olympic title from Tokyo, a first since 1972, and two members of that squad, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen, have been named in the foursome. Ros Canter, who was the travelling reserve for Tokyo 2020, will be hoping for a first Olympic competition appearance, as will reigning World Champion Yasmin Ingham from the Isle of Man.
Showjumping
Paris 2024 will be a fifth Olympic Games for current Olympic individual jumping champion, Ben Maher, and he is joined by Tokyo 2020 Olympians Scott Brash and Harry Charles. Debutant of the group is Joe Stockdale, whose father Tim represented Team GB at Beijing in 2008.
Rider and horse combinations will be submitted by July 8 to Paris 2024 as part of the Sport Entry process for the Games.
Team GB Chef de Mission, Mark England said:
“A huge congratulations to all the athletes, grooms, and horse owners named today as we select the three squads of equestrian riders that will travel to Paris to compete for Team GB.
There is an incredible wealth of experience across all three disciplines, with some athletes set to compete at their fourth, fifth and seventh Olympic Games this summer, which will undoubtedly stand them in good stead in Paris. I look forward to watching them compete at the historic Palace of Versailles in a months’ time.”
Helen Nicholls, Equestrian Team Leader commented;
I’m exceptionally proud of the 12 athlete combinations and their connections who will travel to Paris across the three disciplines of equestrian. We have an exciting balance of experience, talent and potential, and we head to the Games in a strong position, and with medal ambitions. The hours of preparation, enormous sacrifice and total dedication will now be put to the ultimate test. The teams behind the athletes – both equine and human – have left no stone unturned in their quest to support them to their very best performances.
The Olympic Games give us the opportunity to showcase our amazing sports and the unique bond between horse and rider to a new legion of supporters as well as give the equestrian community the chance to be part of Team GB and their family of sports. Here’s to making lifelong memories, achieving dreams and hopefully medal celebrations.”
The Olympic equestrian events will run from 27 July to 6 August at the historic Palace of Versailles and riders will compete across six medal events: team and individual in each of the disciplines.
The equestrian disciplines at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be broadcast on TV in the UK. The BBC will provide free-to-air coverage of the Olympics, including equestrian events, through its various channels and BBC iPlayer. For comprehensive coverage, including all events and early rounds, you might need to access Eurosport or Discovery+, which hold the pay-TV rights to broadcast every moment of the Games.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.