Great Britain has won eventing team gold at the Tokyo Olympics for the first time in 49 years and all three riders are well placed to secure individual medals this afternoon.
The team of Oliver Townend (Ballaghmor Class), Tom McEwen (Toledo de Kerser) and Laura Collett (London 52) beat Australia to Olympic glory by 13.9 penalties and set a new record: their total score of 86.3 is the lowest ever final team score in the history of the Olympic Games.
Britain were last crowned Olympic champions at the 1972 Games in Munich. Since then, only two riders — Richard Meade (in 1972) and Leslie Law (in 2004) — have secured individual glory.
In Tokyo, the Brits have been in gold position since day one when they took an early dressage lead ahead of Germany and consolidated this with three penalty-free cross-country rounds.
In the final phase, Oliver and Laura had one showjump down each while Tom pulled off a stylish clear to seal victory.
The silver medal-winning Aussie team of Andrew Hoy (Vassily de Lassos), Kevin McNab (Don Quidam) and Shane Rose (Virgil) pipped France, the defending champions, by just 1.3 penalties.
The French team is Nicolas Touzaint (Absolut Gold), Christopher Six (Totem de Brecey) and Karim Florent Laghouag (Triton Fontaine)
Germany finished fourth. This nation occupied the silver medal position after dressage, but slipped down the order when Michael Jung (Chipmunk FRH) picked up 11 penalties for activating a frangible pin and Sandra Auffarth (Viamant du Matz) had a run out on cross-country day.
However, there are still medal hopes for Germany in the Julia Krajewski and Amande de B’Neville, who showjumped clear during the team session and go into the second session — where the individual medals will be decided — in pole position.
Britain’s Oliver Townend lies in silver individually after his single showjump down this morning knocked him off the top spot. Tom McEwen’s brilliant clear has moved him into the bronze position. Laura Collett lies fifth behind Australia’s Andrew Hoy.
Final top 10 (team)
- Great Britain 86.3
- Australia 100.2
- France 101.5
- Germany 114.2
- New Zealand 116.4
- USA 125.8
- Italy 144.8
- Ireland 177
- China 209.6
- Switzerland 339.4
View the full leaderboard here.
Main photo: Oliver Townend, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen (l-r) celebrate winning team gold. Photo by FEI/EFE/Kai Försterling
