Monday, 05 August 2024
As the air temperatures rose, so too did the intensity of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games jumping competition for individual honours at Versailles. Today’s qualifier was all about condensing the field of 73 combinations down to a top 30, who would battle it out in Tuesday’s medal round. Course designers Santiago Varela (ESP)and Gregory Bodo (FRA) had once again set a great test of 14 fences with 17 jumping efforts, ranging from 1.5m to 1.65m, with a time allowed of 79 seconds.
There was a mix of fortunes throughout the first session, but a few expertly ridden clears showed that it was possible. The first to jump for Team GB was Harry Charles with his own and Ann Thompson’s Romeo 88. The horses have had two rest days while the dressage medals were decided and, cantering in, Romeo looked fresh and ready for the off.
Harry set off in a good, forward rhythm, which suits Romeo’s style, and they ate up the course, tackling all the tricky elements, including the now-familiar wall with a tiny plank on top, multiple open, airy oxers and distances that required clever footwork. The round had a beautiful rhythm, with every fence met perfectly, and it looked as though the duo really enjoyed it, even with the pressure of qualifying for the chance to ride for an Olympic medal on their shoulders. Romeo showed he still had plenty in the tank for tomorrow with a huge buck as he crossed the finish line.
“It doesn't always happen like this, so it's nice for me to be coming back here with a smile on my face,” beamed Harry afterwards when he spoke to the press. “He felt incredible – I didn't think I'd actually say this, but it's probably a better round than the one we jumped on Friday. It just felt super-easy and he felt so comfortable. We kind of went round at maybe 70-80% ability, so to do that ahead of tomorrow fills me with confidence and I’m just enjoying every moment now. We did what we came here to do on Friday and anything now is just a bonus, so I’m enjoying every minute of it.
“The two days off has been excellent – I'm really happy that the organisers allowed that because it lets our horses refresh and recharge, as well as us. His [Romeo’s] biggest trait is he’s got the hugest engine – he never gets really tired – so it was really easy for the batteries to go back up to 100% and you saw at the end, he let out a bit of a buck and a play. He's enjoying it as much as I am, I think!
“My first two rounds were on the faster side, so I thought the most important thing was to be jumping the jumps. If I had had one down, I did have a plan B – I was going to leave a few strides out and turn up a bit tighter – but I didn't hear any hit the ground, so I thought, ‘OK, let's hit the plan A’,” he concluded.
The awaiting media wanted to know if the team had celebrated their gold medal; “Not as hard as we wanted to, but we're going to get home first – we've still got a job to do today and tomorrow. Don't worry – when we get back on next weekend, we'll have a good old party, but I think it's well deserved,” Harry, ever the professional, admitted.
Through the next rotation of riders, clear rounds were proving more difficult to come by, with a number of combinations exiting with four or eight faults. However, next up for Team GB were the duo who jumped so superbly on Friday to secure the team gold medal – Scott Brash with Lady Pauline Harris and Lady Pauline Kirkham’s Jefferson.
Scott cantered into the arena, surveyed all in front of him, saluted the judges and set off with his trademark steely determination. He and ‘Jezza’ know each other so well now and Scott clearly had a plan A and B in mind. He took economical lines without unnecessary risk, which meant that if they were to lower a rail, they would still be in with a chance of qualifying. They kept up the pace and Jezza was his usual self – determined, if a little unorthodox at times to make every effort to leave the fences up. Scott had to work to channel the gelding’s enthusiasm for the job at hand, but the gelding listened to his pilot.
They gave the middle element of the treble at fence 10 a tiny rub, but it stayed firm in its cups, as did the remaining rails. They stopped the clock well in time – plan A had come off immaculately.
“He felt really good, I thought he jumped super. Maybe we had a touch of luck in the middle part of the combination – I felt like it was the only one he touched. Other than that, he felt super,” Scott reflected.
“When I walked the course, I thought it was a really clever because it wasn't as big as the first two days, but it was tricky and a super course. But then, to be honest, when I watched the first 10–15 go, I thought, ‘Oh God, there's going to be too many clears’. So then, what do you do? Do you set off to have a fast time just in case you have a fence? It's always a balance because you still want to try to be clear, but luckily it paid off and, actually, the way the class is turning out, I think it's going to be probably about spot on,” he said optimistically.
Many have commented that Paris is almost like a ‘home Games’, Scott was asked about his supporters in Versailles. “My family are actually here – I've not really been able to see them much, but it's always great. My owners, Lady Harris and Sue Harris are here, so it's great to just chill out and have a nice dinner with them at night. It's always great to have your nearest and dearest close to you, it makes you feel more comfortable because there's a lot of time to be thinking about things throughout the event where, actually, just being able to chill out and relax is always good.
“I think British Equestrian have done an unbelievable job for us, for the whole equestrian team. We have our own sort of residence, if you like. I think they've done it really, really well in being able to make us feel as comfortable as we can and still be close to our family, but without too much outside influence coming in. So, they've done a fantastic job – we've been looked after fantastically here,” he added.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, Scott was quizzed on his thoughts about the scores being reset for the final. “It’s the Olympics, it's the way it is. But you know that before you come, you have to get your head around that. With horses, you can be clear all the way along and then have an unlucky fence tomorrow, and someone that can have one down all the way along can win tomorrow,” he explained.
Normally first to go in the team environment, that was reversed today for Ben Maher in his bid to defend his Olympic title. Riding the sensitive but scopey mare Dallas Vegas Batilly, who he co-owns with Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright, Ben had had a long wait, but could start with a fair idea of what he needed to do to secure a top 30 spot and qualify for tomorrow's finale.
He set off in a forward rhythm, but not too much to rush ‘Tilly’ into making a mistake – they’ve been faultless so far all week in terms of fences – and she answered in her own stylish way, really opening up over the bright fences and making them seem easy. It was looking to be their best round of the week so far in terms of style and assurance – a ticket to final seemed to be in the bag. However, as they rounded the corner to head down the final line towards fence 12 – a tricky wall with a complex design that drew the eye – Tilly just didn’t read it at all and, although she gave her all to scramble over, she took out a number of bricks with her hind legs. Ben, as cool as ever, was quick to pick her up and press on to clear the final two obstacles. They stopped the clock at 73.24 – it was four faults, but it was quick, which would hopefully heighten their chances of progressing to the medal battle. With eight more to go, it was set to be an agonising wait to see if they were safe.
Combinations came in, combinations faulted – Ben’s chances began to look positive. With three to go, his place in the final was assured, albeit not at the end of the draw he’d have wished for. He and Tilly ended up in 28th position, while Harry and Scott finished 11th and 12th respectively.
“I just like making it exciting for everybody!” Ben quipped. “We’re in, I guess that’s all that matters really. You can quickly go from close to pole position tomorrow to not being in, but I don’t really know what happened. She felt amazing today – she was very lively outside and playing a bit in the warmup. When I got in the ring, she was honestly jumping as good, if not better than the other days I felt. My target was a fence down within 75 seconds, which I know feels a back-to-front way of looking at a worst-case scenario, plan B.
“There’s a big shadow now by the wall, so I guess I should have maybe taken her over for a little bit of a look. She just rolled around the corner and, as she took off, it took her by surprise. Luckily, I’m a little older and a bit more experienced and made a quick recovery to get home,” he explained.
Looking to tomorrow when everyone starts on a zero score – not always a popular format with the riders – what does Ben think given today’s result? “I’m happy with that right now!” he said with a smile. “I could have been second-last to go, but now I’m going to be three or four in. She’s a great horse, we’ll be early and I ride to my own plan, anyway. I’ll go out, from the beginning, do my own thing and let the others come from behind. I hope we’ve had our mistake for the week today.”
The individual final gets underway at 09:00 BST and all three British combinations will compete against the best riders in the world to bring the equestrian action of Paris 2024 to an exciting climax.
Full results and times for tomorrow can be found on Olympic.org and read our ‘how to watch’ guide for all your viewing information.