I had a nanosecond to decide whether asking new Paris individual bronze medallist Laura Collett for an Olympic medal selfie was unprofessional when I saw her coming out of the back door of the press conference as I finished my interview with performance manager Dickie Waygood yesterday – and then I thought, “Oh, why not?”
I was there the day Laura scored her first three-day event win at Weston Park in 2004 – it was my first three-day reporting gig – so I feel like we’ve grown up together in our respective jobs in the wonderful and crazy sport that is eventing.
I feel a little drunk today as I wind down from Britain’s team gold and individual bronze medal success yesterday. Drunk, disorientated or perhaps hungover. After three and a half hours sleep on cross-country night, I was up until 3.30am after showjumping finishing my magazine report and helping the hard-working team at home get it to press.
What a day. A second Olympic team gold in a row for Britain’s eventers. So was it better than Tokyo?
It was very different. I felt after Tokyo that, for me, no British result would ever matter as much and having lived through yesterday, I stand by that. The medal-free Rio, my first accredited Olympics, stung. It had been 49 years since Team GB cracked it. And the Covid situation made it all incredibly intense.
Tokyo was an amazing experience but at times, it felt like a tough task that everyone, from riders to journalists, had willingly and keenly signed up for and now had to see through to its conclusion.
The Tokyo eventing schedule was gruelling, combining early morning and late night sessions. I was completely numb when the team gold was confirmed. By the time I sat down to write my lead magazine copy, I had been up for 26 hours straight. The British eventing team looked dead behind the eyes when I caught up with their TV interviews after it was all over.
With Covid precautions, the joy was missing. There definitely wasn’t going to be an Olympic medal selfie opportunity. Something about interviewing someone who is 2m away in a mask isn’t quite the same as being able to really eyeball them and smell the sweat.
When Jessica von Bredow-Werndl found out she’d won Olympic individual gold in the mixed zone in Tokyo, none of us could reach out physically to congratulate her. Yesterday, I hugged Laura. I gave Tom McEwen a squeeze on the arm. I even hugged Dickie. That’s being human.
In Tokyo, we worked alone in our hotel rooms in the early hours of the morning after the sport. Here, the H&H team and sometimes our colleagues from Eventing Nation and The Chronicle of the Horse have congregated in the bar with laptops, Uber Eats and wine (don’t judge, wine helps the words flow, beer makes pictures upload quicker).
It’s fun, it’s motivating and it’s helpful. Can’t think of another word for something? Let’s crowdsource a solution! I went to my room last night as I needed to work quickly and at maximum concentration, but writing on cross-country night in the bar will always be a favourite Paris memory.
And so, Olympic eventing is over for another four years. Versailles is flooded with dressage riders and I’m letting my fellow reporter Martha Terry take the lead for a couple of days while I play a supporting role. Onwards and upwards.
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You might also be interested in:
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