Great Britain has won its first gold medal at the Paris 2024 Games in team eventing. The nation successfully defended its Olympic team eventing title and won by 12.3 penalties clear of the host country France with Japan taking bronze. The Tokyo 2020 champions Laura Collett and Tom McEwen, alongside world number one Ros Canter, claimed victory in the final showjumping stage at Chateau de Versailles.
The success in Paris comes three years after GB’s team eventing triumph in Tokyo, and they have successfully retained their Olympic title for the first time since winning back-to-back golds in 1972. Collett also claimed individual bronze following her penalty-free performance in the jumping final, finishing behind German gold medallist Michael Jung and Australia’s Christopher Burton, as McEwen placed fourth.
Collett’s winning performance in team eventing saw her become the first British woman to win an individual eventing medal since Kristina Cook in 2008. She expressed her gratitude toward the team stating, “I owe absolutely everything to that horse. The team have made it possible. It’s many years of hard work, blood, sweat and tears. Emotional rollercoaster doesn’t do it justice.”
Canter had already seen her individual medal hopes end after incurring 15 jumping penalties in Sunday’s cross-country, which caused her to drop from sixth to 24th. The controversial ruling against Canter, which British equestrian were confident would be overturned, was upheld after a review and allowed France to cut Great Britain’s overnight lead to 4.7 from 7.4. Despite this Canter kept GB on course for victory, receiving four penalty points in her outing at the Olympic venue
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