VERSAILLES, France – Great Britain won its first gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Monday when it successfully defended its team riding title.
Laura Collett, Tom McEwen and Rosalind Canter sealed victory in the jumping section – the third part of the CCE competition – following Saturday’s rainy dressage and Sunday’s cross country. Collett and McEwen also won gold in the Tokyo Games event three years ago with a different teammate.
Collett, who was riding in the London 52, was the last of the British trio to ride and received a small penalty for exceeding the course time limit, but it made no difference.
“I’m on top of the world. I’ve never, ever walked in an atmosphere like this,” said Collett, 34. “Fortunately, London is a reliable partner, as are my team.”
France took the silver medal and Japan the bronze.
Racers compete against the clock by jumping with a time limit of 80 seconds over a distance of 500 meters while jumping over obstacles. Penalties are added depending on how many obstacles are knocked down or passed in time, as Collett did fractionally. The team with the lowest overall penalty score wins.
Collett petted his horse’s head and patted his side several times after he finished jumping under clear blue skies, a blazing sun and a noisy crowd at the Palace of Versailles.
“There are no words to describe the atmosphere,” she said. “It really lifted our horses. We are very lucky that all three of us have horses that like the crowd. That made London jump even better today.”
McEwen was at JL Dublin while Canter was at Lordships Graffalo.
Frenchman Stéphane Landois vigorously celebrated his silver medal by raising his right arm like a boxer’s hook after making a strong pass at Chaman Dumontceau.
Landois was joined on the podium by Karim Laghouag in Triton Fonatine and Nicolas Touzaint in Diabolo Menthe.
The medal had a deeper meaning for Landois, who rode Chaman Dumontceau at the request of the Meheust family. French rider Thaïs Meheust died after falling from her horse during a cross country race in 2019. She was 22 years old.
Japan’s bronze was its first equestrian medal since 1932, when Takeichi Nishi – the son of a baron popular in Hollywood circles – won gold in the individual vault at the Los Angeles Games.
Japan’s podium, 92 years later, featured Ryuzo Kitajima, Yoshiaki Oiwa and Kazuma Tomoto.
Kitajima rode Cekatinka, while Oiwa was on HGH Grafton Street and Tomoto was paired with Vinci De La Vigne.
Princess Anne, the 73-year-old sister of King Charles III of Great Britain, awarded the medals to the knights. She competed in the 1976 Olympic Games in CCE and her daughter, Zara Tindall, won Olympic silver in team CCE at the 2012 London Games.
The equestrian team final also served as a qualifier for the individual show jumping final on Monday, won by German rider Michael Jung.
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