Did Britain have a good chance of winning a medal?
We predicted that Great Britain had a very good chance of winning both team and individual medals in the Olympic eventing competition – and we were proved right as the team brought home team gold and individual bronze!
Which country has won the most Olympic eventing medals?
Following the Paris Games, Germany (including West Germany and the combined German team) still heads the leaderboard for team medals with 13 medals in total (four gold, five silver, four bronze), ahead of Britain on 12. But Britain moves into the lead with the highest number of team gold medals (five), ahead of Austria and Germany with four.
In the individual competition, riders from the USA have won 13 medals in total (two gold, seven silver and four bronze), while Germany (in all its forms) has moved ahead of Sweden with five Olympic eventing individual champions. Sweden remains on four.
How many Olympic eventing medals has Great Britain won?
Britain has won 12 Olympic eventing team medals: five gold, five silver and two bronze. Britain claimed back-to-back team golds in Paris 2024 and Tokyo 2020, which followed team silver at London 2012. Prior to Tokyo, it had been 49 years since Britain was crowned Olympic eventing team champions, at the 1972 Games in Munich.
In the individual Olympic eventing competition, British riders have won 11 medals in total: two gold, three silver and six bronze. Prior to Laura Collett’s bronze in Paris, the most recent individual success was Tom McEwen’s silver medal at Tokyo 2020. Prior to that Tina Cook rode Miners Frolic to win the bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Games, for which the equestrian events were held in Hong Kong. Our most recent Olympic individual eventing champion was Leslie Law riding Shear L’Eau in the 2004 Athens Games.
Who won the Olympic eventing medals in Tokyo 2020?
Team gold: Britain
Team silver: Australia
Team bronze: France
Individual gold: Julia Krajewski (GER)
Individual silver: Tom McEwen (GBR)
Individual bronze: Andrew Hoy (AUS)
What’s the Olympic eventing competition format?
There were both team and individual medals up for grabs in Paris, which were decided on 29 July. In order to win an individual medal, each horse and rider had to tackle the dressage, cross-country and showjumping phases across three days to receive their final penalty score – the lowest score wins.
How many riders in an Olympic eventing team?
There are three horse and rider combinations in each team with all scores to count, plus one reserve who can be substituted in under certain circumstances.
Who were Olympic eventing judges in Paris?
The president of the ground jury was Christina Klingspor from Sweden. The other members of the ground jury were Xavier Le Sauce from France, and Robert Stevenson of the USA.
Who were the other Olympic eventing officials?
Marcin Konarski of Poland was the eventing technical delgate (TD), with Gaston Bileitczuk of France as assistant TD. France’s Pierre Le Goupil was the cross-country course designer with Britain’s Richard Clapham in cross-country control.
Eventing’s chief steward was Hungary’s George Bazar, with Pia Myrskog of Finland as steward. Cesar Hirsch of Venezuela was the overall chief steward at the Games.
Essential reading
• H&H’s beginners’ guide: what is eventing at the Olympics?
• H&H’s expert guide to the Olympic eventing format
• H&H’s essential guide to eventing scoring and penalities
• H&H’s detailed guide to eventing dressage scoring
• H&H’s beginners’ guide to eventing cross-country at the Olympics
When did eventing become an Olympic sport?
The sport of eventing was first seen in the Olympics in the 1912 Games in Stockholm. Only male riders were allowed to compete and Sweden’s Axel Nordlander won individual gold and led his team to the top spot on the podium. The first Olympic eventing competition consisted of a 55km endurance race, a 5km cross-country course, a 3.5km steeplechase, jumping over 15 obstacles, as well as a dressage phase.
When did women start competing against men in Olympic eventing?
The restriction that only allowed men to compete in Olympic equestrian events was lifted in 1951, with the first women competing alongside men in the 1952 Helsinki Games. However it was not until Tokyo 1964 that the first woman represented her country in Olympic eventing: this was Helena du Pont of the USA.
