Individual, Men

The show jumping consisted of two rounds, with total scores to count for the final placements. The course consisted of 13 obstacles, although the sixth obstacle was a three-part one, with a 1.40 m fence, then a 3.00 m water jump, and then a 1.50 m wall of horizontal birch poles. The eighth obstacle also had two parts, a double birch fence followed by a double fence with a hedge between. The course was designed by Björn Strandell, and was 786 metres long, with a time allowance of 1:57.2. The height of the obstacles was up to 1.60 metres, with the water jump 5.00 metres in width.

On a sunny, warm day, France’s Pierre Jonquères d’Oriola was one of five riders to have a total of 8.00 faults for his two rounds. In the jump-off, which was held over six raised obstacles, Jonquères d’Oriola went clear, with no faults, the only rider to do so, which won him the gold medal. Chile’s Óscar Cristi had only 4.00 faults in the jump-off, which brought him the silver medal. Cristi would also lead Chile to a silver medal in team jumping, and the two silver medals remain the only equestrian medals won by Chile at the Olympics through 2012. The bronze medal was decided on time, as both Germany’s Fritz Thiedemann and Brazil’s Eloy de Menezes had 8.00 faults in the jump-off, but Thiedemann’s time of 38.5 was 6.5 seconds faster than de Menezes’ and brought him the silver medal.

Jonquères d’Oriola would return and win another gold medal in this event in 1964, and he won the 1966 World Championships. Thiedemann would win team jumping gold medals in 1956 and 1960. At Helsinki, he won two bronze medals, one in this event, and one in team dressage.