Individual, Men

Dmitry Svatkovsky had been the favorite in 1996 after winning the 1994-95 World Championships. He was second at the 1997 Worlds and third in 1999, but the favorites in 2000 were France’s Sébastien Deleigne, the 1997-98 World Champion, and Hungary’s Gábor Balogh, the 1999 World Champion. France’s Olivier Clergeau took the early lead, and led after the second and fourth phases, tied going into the run with Velizar Iliev, the Bulgarian-born American. American Chad Senior led after three phases, but struggled with his horse in the riding, as it made refusals three times in the jumping. Deleigne was the best runner but he was in ninth place after four phases, 171 points behind, and although he won the cross-country, he would finish fourth overall. Clergeau was not a good runner and would eventually finish eighth. Svatkovsky placed fourth in the run and passed everybody, coming from fifth place and 19 seconds behind the leaders, 77 points down, to win the gold medal, with Balogh winning silver.