Team, Open

Discounting 1980, the last three Olympic champions had been Great Britain in 1968 and 1972 and the United States in 1976. They were expected to battle for the gold medal in Los Angeles and did so. The USA took the lead after the dressage, with Great Britain fourth, trailing Sweden and France. Great Britain had the best ride in the endurance phase, followed by the United States, but it was not enough to overcome the US lead, which was 8.20 points going into the jumping. Britain then had a perfect ride in the jumping, with no faults, which was matched by Canada, France, and West Germany, while the United States had 10 jumping faults. However, when adding up the three best riders’ total scores, the United States won the gold medal by only 3.20 points over the British team. West Germany and France had a similarly close contest for bronze, with the Germans prevailing by 2.00 points.