Team, Open

Sweden had been the superior team in show jumping since the Tokyo Games, winning both the World and European titles that had been contested, but the format of the competition nearly cost them dearly in the qualifying round in Paris. After two clear rounds from his teammates, the usually reliable Peder Fredricson had a disastrous round of 17 penalties, and the favorites only narrowly qualified for the final.

The final saw Britain lead France after the first wave of riders as the only two teams not to have knocked a fence down. Ben Maher’s single time fault allied with a perfect round by Harry Charles, and another single penalty score by Scott Brash would mean that the British would win their first Olympic gold in this event since 2012. At those London Games, Maher and Brash had been members of the winning team, along with Harry’s father, Peter Charles. The fourth member of the British team in London had been Nick Skelton and, in 2024, his partner Laura Kraut matched his achievement of winning an Olympic medal at the age of 58 as part of the United States team. France took the bronze medal after a tie on penalties with the Netherlands was broken by half-a-second on combined times.