There can surely be no more pressure than going into an Olympic showjumping arena knowing that a clear round is needed to win gold.
But Scott Brash and Jefferson rose to the occasion like the superstars they are, with a foot-perfect performance that means Britain has won a showjumping gold medal at four Olympics on the trot.
Following Ben Maher and Dallas Vegas Batilly’s clear with a time-fault, and Harry Charles and Romeo 88’s clear without, Scott and Lady Harris and Lady Kirkham’s 15-year-old gelding also notched up just one time-fault to ensure Britain remained on top of the pile with a total of two faults.
Harry said the moment felt “pretty unbelievable”.
“It’s going to take a few days or weeks to sink in; Olympic champions sounds pretty good,” he said. “We’ve got the horses to thank and a lot of background staff, teams, groups, farriers, vets, everyone has come together to make this possible. You see us with the medals but it’s really a village behind us, I’m very grateful.”
Much has been made of the fact that last time Britain won Olympic team showjumping gold, it was Ben and Scott, and Harry’s father Peter Charles on the team.
Asked what Peter had said to him before he went in today, Harry answered:
“He said ‘enjoy it, whatever you do, you’ve worked hard to get here’,” he said. “And after, he said, ‘Enjoy every minute of that ceremony, this will probably be the best moment of your life’. I was 12 [in Greenwich, in 2012] and I watched these two boys. They’re both my heroes, guys I’ve looked up to since I started riding and to be on the podium with them, my inner, younger self is freaking out!”
Ben has now won three Olympic gold medals; team in London and individual in Tokyo.
“But everyone’s as important as each other and I just have a lot to thank this team for,” he said. “It’s a team effort. As Harry said, there’s many people that we can’t thank that aren’t here with us.
“But these guys on the team, we have a great team spirit and I think sometimes we have different horses, different things, but we really come together and we really believe in each other and I think that’s for me personally what gave us the edge today.”
Scott praised the “amazing” Jefferson, who stayed relaxed and focused to jump clear.
“A gold medal doesn’t get old, it’s incredible,” he said. “Obviously to win in London, in front of our home crowd, was one the best days of my life, but here’s right up there.
“What an unbelievable setting, a beautiful venue for our sport and the facilities for the horses were incredible. So I think that really showcases top sport.
Asked about the pressure, especially with only three combinations to a team, Scott said the other two had put him in a great position.
“You’ve just got to stay focused,” he said. “Stay focused on your horse, you know what you know, and it’s a partnership. You really need to know your horse inside out to be able to jump that course clear. It’s such a technical course, it’s big here at the highest level, there’s question marks all around that course. So you really need to know your horse inside out and ride your horse. I think you just stay focused on what you know with your horse and then try to execute your plan and I think that’s what I tried to do and thankfully it all paid off.”
The US retained the team silver they won in Tokyo; Laura Kraut and Baloutinue lowered one rail, but Karl Cook with Caracole De La Roque and McLain Ward with Ilex jumped clear inside the time for a total of four.
Home nation France took bronze; they had only had three time-penalties on the board from first combination Simon Delestre and I Amelusina R 51, as Olivier Perreau and Dorai D’Aigully jumped clear, but last-in European individual bronze medallists Julien Epaillard and Dubai Du Cedre lowered a rail for a total of seven.
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