Equestrian 2024 Paris Olympics Review

Individual Dressage

Charlotte Dujardin (Great Britain) missed the Olympics as a video emerged before the competition begun of her whipping a horse. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (Germany) led qualification by more than a point ahead of Cathrine Dufour (Denmark). In the final, Carl Hester (Great Britain) took an early lead with 85.161, a score that held the lead with five riders remaining. Isabell Werth (Germany) surged ahead, scoring 89.614 to take a massive lead, followed by Charlotte Fry (Great Britain) on 88.971. Von Bredow-Werndl broke 90 with a 90.093 and it was enough to take gold as no one could challenge the medal positions. 

🥇Jessica von Bredow-Werndl 🇩🇪

🥈Isabell Werth 🇩🇪

🥉Charlotte Fry 🇬🇧

Prediction analysis; 2 Medallists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

Von Bredow-Werndl looked like the dominant rider entering the competition and proved to be so. Fry was good in sealing bronze but Werth surprised me in taking another medal. 

Team Dressage

Germany led qualifying by nearly two points ahead of Denmark, with Great Britain a further four points behind. In the final, Britain held an early lead after one rider ahead of Denmark and Germany. In the second round, that order would reserve. The gap to Netherlands in fourth was almost ten points though, so the medals looked decided. A score of 79.483 would guarantee Britain a medal with the two leaders to come. It was 81.216 for Denmark which guaranteed at least silver. Germany would do enough to seal gold with a 79.954. 

🥇Germany 🇩🇪

🥈Denmark 🇩🇰

🥉Great Britain 🇺🇸

Prediction analysis; 3 Medallists correct, 3 perfect predictions 

This felt easier to pick once Dujardin missed out on the Olympics. It pretty much went as expected from my point of view. 

Individual Eventing

Tom McEwan (Great Britain) set the early pace with 25.80, only for teammate Laura Collett (Great Britain) to smash that out of the water scoring 17.50, an Olympic record. She was challenged by Michael Jung (Germany) on 17.80 but ultimately lead after the dressage stage. In the cross-country stage, McEwan again took the early lead, before Collett made it a British one-two momentarily, scoring just 0.8. Yoshiaki Oiwa (Japan) soon separated the pair with a clear round. Jung also went clear, moving into the lead with a spectacular round. Christopher Burton (Australia) and Felix Vogg (Switzerland) also went clear, sitting third and fourth overall. In the jumping phase, Kazuma Tomoto (Japan) went clear in the jumping round, leading on 27.4 before McEwan followed into the lead with a total of 25.8. Burton was next to go into the lead, with a small time fault leaving him on 22.4. Jung scored 4 penalty points leaving him on 21.8. 4.8 points for Collett left her in fifth on 23.1. Tomoto would put pressure on those ahead of him with a clear round and the next two riders would both score penalties. McEwan also went clear to guarantee a British medal, only for Collett to go clear, guaranteeing herself a medal. Burton and Jung would both go clear though, allowing Jung to become the joint most decorated eventer of all time when going clear and winning a third individual gold. 

🥇Michael Jung 🇩🇪

🥈Christopher Burton 🇦🇺

🥉Laura Collett 🇬🇧

Prediction analysis; 1 Medallist correct

I felt I was along the right lines here. Jung was a surprise medalists according to the odds but his quality and big meet experience is second to none. I also said I could have any of the British getting medals but put the wrong one. Burton was one that I ignored because of his lack of his form in this event in recent years. 

Team Eventing

Great Britain led after the dressage stage with three riders in the top eleven, holding a seven-point cushion over Germany. In the cross country, Australia and Germany both lost a rider to elimination, ending their medal hopes. Britain stayed ahead, leading France by 4.70, with Japan a further 6.60 back. The jumping phase begun well for Great Britain as Ros Canter (Great Britan) only scored four penalty points to the eight of Nicolas Touzaint (France). Japan took a 20 point penalty for replacing a rider which put them behind Switzerland and Belgium. It was another four penalties for the French team in the second run and when Britain went clear, it looked like they had the necessary edge for the final run. Neither Belgium or Switzerland kept it clear for the bronze medal and instead Japan were able to snatch bronze back. France scored 4.4 penalty points to leave Britain in pole position to take gold and Laura Collett (Great Britain) did enough to secure gold. 

🥇Great Britain 🇬🇧

🥈France 🇫🇷

🥉Japan 🇯🇵

Prediction analysis; 2 Medallists correct, 1 perfect prediction 

Great Britain were as good as I expected. The big shock came as Germany were eliminated due to a rider being eliminated. I mentioned Japan as an outsider and without Germany they may well have been my prediction. 

Individual Jumping

Twenty riders advanced to the final without penalties. Notable names missing from the final included Pedar Fredricson (Sweden), McClain Ward (United States) and Jerome Guery (Belgium). Julien Epaillard (France) led the field heading into the final. The first clear round of the final came from Christian Kukuk (Germany), followed by Maikel van der Vlueten (Netherlands). Pre event favourite Henrik von Eckermann (Sweden) suffered a dramatic fall, ending his hopes. In the jump-off, only Kuluk went clear. Guerdat knocked one down near the end of his routine, taking silver.

🥇Christian Kuluk 🇩🇪

🥈Steve Guerdat 🇨🇭

🥉Maikel van der Vlueten 🇳🇱

 

Prediction analysis; 0 Medallists correct

The jumping event is always the hardest to predict of the equestrian events. Guerdat and Van der Vlueten were both mentioned as possible medalists.

Team Jumping

Germany topped the first round of qualification, despite United States and Great Britain both going faster overall as both scored faults though. With just one penalty point after the first jumper, Great Britain took the early lead in the final. A second clear round kept them ahead, followed by France on three penalty points and Ireland and the United States on four. The United States went clear whereas Ireland scored nine penalty points. Four points for France left them tied with Netherlands but ahead because on combined time. Scott Brash (Great Britain) jumped round with dropping a fence, despite a wobble on 4B, only scoring one penalty point for time but securing the gold for Britain.

🥇Great Britain 🇬🇧

🥈United States 🇺🇸

🥉Germany 🇩🇪

Prediction analysis; 0 Medallists correct

I mentioned the unpredictability of the jumping events but this was unexpected to me. Germany and Great Britain were mentioned as my fourth and fifth team but it was still a surprise to me.