Individual, Open

The qualifying round of the competition saw 20 clear rounds, slightly down on Tokyo but still higher than at any other Olympic Games that used the same format. A major shock in the final was the elimination of World champion Henrik von Eckermann, who had spent two years as the #1 in the world rankings. His horse was exemplary over the first eight fences, but then, inexplicably, veered off course and threw his rider into another obstacle. “He turned left and I went right”, was the Swede’s view on his fall.

A host of other top riders made a single mistake and were eliminated from medal contention, but three survived to contest the podium places: Steve Guerdat, the 2012 gold medalist and veteran of five previous Olympics; quadruple Olympian Maikel van der Vleuten; and Christian Kukuk, a German who had helped his country win the grand final of the League of Nations earlier in the summer.

Kukuk went first in the jump-off and set a clear, fast time of 38.34 seconds on the amended course. Next up was van der Vleuten but, as he pushed to beat the German’s time, he knocked a post down. The final pairing to jump was the European Champion combination of Guerdat and the mare Dynamix de Belheme. The Swiss rider was ahead of the German’s time but clipped the penultimate fence for a score of four penalties. Commentators noted that it was a win for German efficiency over Swiss precision. Although the German men’s football team failed to qualify for Paris, one of their former heroes had much to celebrate from the 2024 Olympic Games. The 2014 FIFA World Cup winner Thomas Müller was a co-owner of gold medal winning horse Checker 47.