United States Eventing Association

Great Britain Forges Ahead With Team and Individual Leads at 2024 Paris Olympics

Paris, France—July 27— Great Britain got off to a flying start topping both the team and individual leaderboards today, after the thrilling opening dressage phase of eventing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Versailles (FRA) during which multiple records were smashed.

Both individual leader Britain’s Laura Collett riding London 52 and second-placed Michael Jung from Germany aboard the 16-year-old Hanoverian gelding Chipmunk FRH (Contendro I x Havanna) broke the Olympic eventing record dressage score of 19.3 set by America’s David O’Connor with Custom Made at the Sydney 2000 Games. Collett threw down a superb mark of 17.5 when 33rd to go of the 64 starters. And then Jung almost matched that when posting 17.8 a couple of hours later.

Lying equal third in the individual rankings overnight are China’s Alex Hua Tian with Jilsonne van Bareelhof and Australia’s Christopher Burton riding Shadow Man who each put a score of 22.0 on the board.

It’s a super-tight situation in the individual standings too with just 8.2 penalty points separating the top 10 individuals and just 11.6 separating the top 20 going into tomorrow’s cross-country phase, which is expected to be hugely influential.

The British team's total of 66.7 after dressage is another Olympic eventing record, overtaking the previous best of 68.6 posted by Australia at the Beijing Games in 2008.

Defending the team gold they won in Tokyo three years ago, the British have a 7.4 penalty point lead over Germany in second on 74.1, while a score of 81.2 puts the Olympic hosts Team France just ahead of fourth-placed New Zealand who have a cumulative score of 83.0.

Tom McEwen’s early leading score of 25.8 with Mr & Mrs. J. Lambert and Mrs. D. Johnston's 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding JL Dublin (Diarado x Zerinna) put the British on the right path this morning. “'Dubs' was awesome. He loves an atmosphere!” said McEwen, who helped Team GBR win their first eventing team gold since 1972 at Tokyo with Toledo de Kerser, and then went on to win individual silver.

“He really lit up a little bit more than I was expecting in the first trot, and then he was actually super relaxed in the walk, which then caught me out for the first change, but then after that, he put it right back up where we left off, hopefully putting Great Britain in a strong starting position, which is our main goal. And now my aim is to support the girls and to finish on that score,” he said.

Next up was Collett who produced a sensational performance with London 52 (Landos x Vernante), who she co-owns with Keith Scott and Karen Bartlett, that would prove impossible to beat. They were also in that victorious Tokyo side and, at 15 years old, the brilliant gelding is like a fine wine, continuing to improve with age.

“I loved every second of it!” Collett said. “That horse is unbelievable. What he has done throughout my whole career; he’s amazing, and he just keeps on delivering, so I’m just very, very grateful to him!”

Of McEwen's test, Collett remarked, “He really went for it and smashed it out of the park, and that gave me the motivation not to leave anything behind, to be brave and give it our best shot, and luckily I have a very willing partner."

The motivation is certainly there for all of the British contingent. “Myself and Tom were lucky enough to be on the podium [in Tokyo] with a gold medal around our necks, so we want to do it again. We’ve come here with a lot of pressure and expectations, but pressure is a privilege!” she pointed out. Her equine partner didn’t make it a walk in the park, however.

“It’s been quite testing, because two days ago he was really wild in that arena and naughty, and feral, and I just had to trust that I didn’t want him to be perfect two days ago," she said. "He was very good yesterday, and it would have been easy to push him in the last 10 minutes today, but I saved it for the arena,” she explained. And it certainly paid off.

Talking about her result Collett said, “I very much tried to stay process-driven today. I’m over the moon with him. We all forget that 'Walter' is only 12 years old. Yes, he won Badminton and the Europeans, but he is still a green horse. I feel like we are still only scratching the surface, particularly in a test like that, which is significantly harder than the tests we normally see."

Her assessment for tomorrow’s cross-country test is “plenty to jump, plenty of places where you just have to be on your game the whole way around. The time is going to be a big factor of course, and that’s where mistakes creep in. I’ve got a plan, and I’m open to that plan changing, but I’m going to stay in my bubble. I’ve got a fantastic team around me, and hopefully we can get the job done tomorrow."

Wrapping it up for the British side, reigning European double-gold medallists Ros Canter and the 12-year-old British Sport Horse Lordships Graffalo (Birkhof's Grafenstolz x Cornish Queen), owned by Archie and Michelle Staull, secured fifth place individually with a score of 23.4 to solidify her country’s position at the top of the team order.

The British will certainly all need to keep sharp if they are to stay ahead of Team Germany who are hot on their heels. Second-placed Michael Jung, a man with an incredible record behind him, said he really likes the cross-country track. “Every fence is very nicely built and the gallop track is so nice. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, and the rain has been good for the ground. My feeling is that the cross-country will be amazing tomorrow."

Where riding tactics are concerned, he confirmed the opinion of many others: “We need to stay concentrated and to do everything 100% perfect."

Jung’s teammate and defending individual Olympic champion Julia Krajewski, who was first into the magnificent Versailles arena today and who will be first to go again in tomorrow’s cross-country test, described the course as “impressive as always, beautifully presented, everything being asked, you can’t underestimate it; the course builder has been very clever. If you ride forward and have an honest horse you will probably do well. I think it’s very clear and very fair."

Third-placed Hua Tian joked that the “arrogant” 15-year-old Belgian Warmblood Jilsonne van Bareelhof (Nevado Van De Rostal x Gilsonne Van Bareelhof), owned by Adam, Angelina, and Lin Guo and Qianru Yi, had a great day today.

"I think for him, he was always going to trot in there and go ‘Oh! I’ve found a venue of similar majesty to myself!’ Or it was going to go the other way, and he was going to go over the top about it!” said the three-time Olympian.

“He is the most talented horse I’ve ever sat on in my life”, Hua Tian continued. “He just goes extra. Last year, he was my first choice for the Asian Games but picked up a little injury the month before. That would be his story. But for me, this [the Olympic Games] was always his goal and his target. We saved him for many years to come here, and tomorrow we unleash the beast and see what happens!”

It’s all going to kick off again at 10:30 a.m. local time as Krajewski leads the way over the track that measures 5,149 meters with a time allowed of 9 minutes 2 seconds and 28 obstacles and 41 efforts to be tackled along the way.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Eventing medals are very much hanging in the balance with plenty of changes expected at the end of what is set to be another really thrilling day.

Team USA sits in sixth following the first day of competition. Check out our Team USA specific write-up here.

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