When Laura Collett was flung from her horse and then trapped by the full force of its weight on top of her in 2013, doctors were not sure she would pull through. She was resuscitated five times then placed in an induced coma for six days. Her injuries included a lacerated liver, damage to her kidneys, a fractured shoulder, a punctured lung and broken ribs. A fragment of her shoulder bone travelled to her eye through her blood stream, leaving her blind on her right side.
Extraordinary, then, that on Monday she was part of a team that retained their Olympic team eventing title at the Paris 2024 Games, Team GB’s first gold of the 33rd Olympiad. And there was further rapture from British fans as she followed team gold with bronze in the individual competition in the opulent grounds of the Chateau de Versailles.
Great Britain ended the equine triathlon – which includes dressage, cross-country and jumping – with a combined score of 91.3 penalty points to finish 12.3 clear of the host nation France, who took silver on 103.6. In an extraordinary achievement Japan took bronze with 115.8, the country’s first Olympic medal in this event.
Against the hopes of the heavily partisan home crowd and in temperatures which reached 30C (86F), Collett, Tom McEwen and Ros Canter took gold after the final showjumping stage.
It is the fifth team gold medal won by Great Britain in the event, an Olympic record which confirms the country’s position at the top of the sport.
Equestrian Eventing inspires near religious devotion among fans, and some bafflement for the uninformed viewer – here is a low down of the basics you need to know:
What is Equestrian Eventing? Olympic eventing is sometimes referred to as the equine triathlon. It takes place over three days and comprises three disciplines: dressage, cross country and show-jumping.
What do the disciplines involve? In dressage, rider and horse perform a series of movements incorporating the walk, trot and canter; cross-country sees competitors tackle a course of about 40 obstacles against the clock, including jumps over water, logs and ditches; and in show-jumping competitors are timed as they jump over a series of obstacles with penalties imposed if an obstacle is toppled, they go over the time limit or if the horse refuses to jump.
How is it scored? It’s complicated. Dressage comes first, with the points achieved translated into a score out of 100. Then every mistake made in the cross-country and jumping adds to the total – the key thing to remember is that the lowest score wins. Alexandra Topping
Collett was leading the individual rankings when she took to the arena for her round in the team competition but a fence down and a time penalty dropped her to bronze. She retained that position in the final jump-off, finishing with a clear round and 23.10 penalty points; teammate McEwen was only 2.7 points adrift in fourth.
Germany’s Michael Jung – arguably the GOAT of Olympic eventing – won his third individual Olympic gold, his fourth in total, after a perfect round while the Australian Christopher Burton also went clear to take silver.
Speaking after the team gold, Collett said she wanted the achievement to show “every child out there … that you can never dream too big”.
Wearing a Swarovski crystal‑covered helmet – in keeping with these fantastical surroundings – she said retaining the gold was an “unreal feeling”.
McEwen said the crowds had transformed the experience. “Today’s shown off the best of this sport’s abilities,” he said. “These horses have been incredible and these people in this team [are] even better.”
The team gold comes with the sport still reeling after the suspension of Charlotte Dujardin, following the emergence of a video showing her whipping a horse 24 times. Asked if the gold was an important moment in light of the scandal, Collett said: “Seeing our horses go in there looking a million dollars and perform like they have all weekend, hopefully that shows what goes in. There is a huge team behind us that makes it possible and horses don’t go like that if they’re not happy.”
At the start of the gripping third day of eventing the team event had hung in the balance, with Team GB hoping to defend their Olympic title for the first time since 1972. An astonishing performance by the 34-year-old Collett in the dressage on the first day on her horse London 52 in an Olympic record helped Great Britain to top the standings after the first phase.
The British team were way out in front on day two, until a controversial jumping penalty against Canter on Lordships Graffalo drastically reduced their lead. Canter was given 15 jumping penalties, causing her to drop from sixth to 24th in the individual and cutting Great Britain’s lead to 4.7 over France.
The leaderboard was tight as they went into the final day, with just a rail between first and second place. But as the French team faltered, with a number of rails coming down, the British team extended their lead, with a flawless round from McEwen on JL Dublin, who took silver in the individual eventing in Tokyo. The third and final Frenchman, Stéphane Landois, who received a number of penalties, used his round to whip up the already noisy French crowd.
“It wasn’t very nice of him,” Collett said when asked about his actions. “Luckily my horse quite likes that, I wouldn’t have wanted to be sat on a novice. He rose to the occasion. He’s a superstar and he loves showing off and he thinks he’s right at home with a palace in the background.”
The event comes at a moment of intense scrutiny for equestrian sport, which has been dogged by controversies about animal welfare. Two days after the withdrawal of Dujardin last week, the Italian rider Emiliano Portale was eliminated after his horse was found to be bleeding from the mouth after the eventing dressage qualifiers. The Brazilian rider Carlos Parro was also given a warning by the Fédération Équestre Internationale after the animal charity Peta complained he was creating unnecessary discomfort to his horse Safira.
British Equestrian and its riders will surely now hope that the gleam of gold will quieten the discourse, at least around the British team. It may, briefly. But on Tuesday the spotlight will return as the dressage competition begins.
Dujardin has been replaced by Becky Moody, who will ride alongside Lottie Fry and Carl Hester. Hester, competing in his seventh Olympics, won gold alongside Dujardin in the team dressage event at London 2012, silver with her in Rio and bronze in Tokyo. He has condemned her actions, but will likely face a barrage of questions. Dujardin who had been hoping to become Great Britain’s most decorated female Olympian, will only be able to watch.
