Versailles, France—Aug. 5
After 73 rounds of jumping in the individual qualifier today at the Paris Olympics, 30 riders will move forward to Tuesday’s medal round, including Karl Cook and Laura Kraut. But it was French rider Julien Epaillard who ruled the day with his chestnut mare Dubai Du Cedre, posting the fastest clear round of the day in 73.07 seconds. While Tuesday will be a clean-slate final, today’s placings determine the order of go, and Epaillard has earned the advantage of being last in the ring.
“I was thinking a little bit about the time, because if you have one down [I might not make it],” he said. “So I wanted to have [the] round a little bit fast but not crazy, not take on the risk. I have no plan before coming to the ring, I have to say.”
He wanted to see how his mare felt instead of pre-determining the number of strides he’d take in the lines. As soon as she landed off Fence 1 going forward, he knew they could go for a quicker round with fewer strides between fences.
“She was so relaxed today, so with me,” he said. “She is much more easier to ride when she’s like [this]. This the first day she can be a little bit fresh, and it’s a bit more difficult for me.”
He said he felt some relief today, riding just for himself.
“It was a lot of pressure in the team: I was last to go and playing for medal—silver or bronze or nothing. So, yeah, it’s bit different in a team. You’re representing the country; you also have your friends with you, so you don’t want to make anybody disappointed,” he said. “After [the team competition], I think, all the heavy shoulders I had before is now away. I think today I rode differently, maybe more relaxed, and also my mare, she has a lot of blood, and every day she’s more relaxed. So it helped me to have more precision with what I do.
“I’m really happy with my run today,” he continued. “It was the first step [and] was not so easy to do. So because it’s not a big, big, big round, it’s more delicate. Everything was bit open, it was not the best for me. I like when it’s a bit short with my mare.”
Ireland’s riders were on a hot streak heading into the Olympics but failed to earn their first team medal. They turned their luck around today, with Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz(73.35) and Daniel Coyle and Legacy (73.64) finishing the day in second and third, respectively.
“He jumped great,” Sweetnam said. “He still had a lot of energy, which I was maybe a little worried [about]. Obviously, this is unknown territory a little bit. It’s quite hot out there. … The big thing I wanted to be quick enough. If I did knock one, I’d have still a chance for tomorrow, because we were early.”
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His teammate Daniel Coyle was similarly speedy, just 0.29 seconds off his pace. He thought the course was simpler than the difficult tracks designers Gregory Bodo and Santiago Varela Ullastres set for the team qualifier and finals.
“This one’s for sure a little softer, and there’s a lot of clears,” Coyle said, “which is a little scary, because who knows what he’s going to build tomorrow.”
U.S. rider Karl Cook continued his clear-round streak with Caracole De La Roque. It wasn’t the pair’s fastest round of the week, but by finishing in 76.97 seconds, they’re comfortably in the middle of the pack in 16th.
“It felt really good,” he said. “She has more energy today than she had before. She actually feels stronger, more powerful, which is a great thing. The beginning of the course rode the way we hoped. I messed up that line across the middle—I added one, did nine and seven, and that was that was my fault. I just overcooked it. I was expecting the eight to be a lot shorter than I ended up being, because seven was looking very normal. So I just overcooked the turn. But thankfully, I’m on her and not on some of the others, that she took care of me there, and then able to come home. And she was awesome.”
He said that “Cara’s” energy comes in part due to her jumping in the big arena in front of a crowd twice already, and she gets excited as the week goes on.
“It used to require a significant change [in my riding],” he said. “Less so now, and that’s something I’m having to make adjustments for. And I think that’s part of—the mistakes in there was me overcorrecting based off of maybe the way things were in the past. So, I need to understand that, address that, and make those adjustments for tomorrow, because I won’t be able to make those mistakes tomorrow.”
After her round, Laura Kraut figured she probably wouldn’t make it to the individual final thanks to a rail at the final element of the triple combination, 10C, with Baloutinue. However, she just made the cut-off in 27th place.
“I felt very confident going in, although I said earlier, it’s a different sort of mindset when there’s so many clear already,” she said. “So you know that any little mistake is going to be very costly. But I felt like things were going well; he touched the pink oxer [at 8]. But he hit that, and it didn’t fall, and I thought, OK, I’m good, because he’s so careful, and he never touches fences. And then when I jumped into the triple, he went a little right. And I legged him coming out, but I think he must have barely touched it, because I didn’t hear him hit it. I just heard the crowd. I just must have needed another couple inches staying straight.”
She praised the course designers, who had to build for a wide variety of skillsets.
“I think Bodo has done a tremendous job,” she said. “I think for the team rounds, he could not have built any better. I think it couldn’t have worked any nicer. I think today he’s gone a little softer, as he needed to, because OK, horses like myself have already gotten a fair number of rounds. And then there’s the people who have done none, so they’ve not jumped at all. So it’s their first time in the ring, so he’s had to make it a little bit less difficult but still very careful. Very well done.”
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The final U.S. rider, McLain Ward, came agonizingly close to a clear round with Ilex, but the final oxer fell, and their time of 75.50 seconds ultimately left them in 34th and below the cut-off.
“He was brilliant, actually jumped up very easy,” Ward said of Ilex. “You know, coming down the last line, it was getting easy coming to the gate. I think I just got myself a little bit anxious and put a little more leg than I needed and just made him go a little flat [at the last]. I think it was just a small rider error. But today, unfortunately, with so many clears, it’s going to just be out, and it’s a little frustrating. I wish it was actually a more difficult track, that there was a little more separation, especially for this level. That’s the way it goes some days.”
Twenty pairs jumped clear, and one pair, Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi of the United Arab Emirates and Enjoy De La Mure, were clear with 1 time fault. Twenty pairs had just 4 faults; only the nine fastest of them made it to the individual final.
There were a few surprises. Germany’s Richard Vogel and United Touch S had the same fence down as Kraut, and they ultimately lowered the final two fences on course to finish well out of the running. The Swedish riders, who were so dominant while earning team gold in Tokyo, were off the mark in the team final, and only World No. 1 Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward qualified for the individual final. Reigning Olympic champion Ben Maher had a hairy moment at the wall at 12, when Dallas Vegas Batilly misread the fence and sent the bricks flying, but thanks to Maher’s experience, they were able to recover and make it to the final, though they finished 28th today.
The individual final will take place tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. Eastern Time) and medals will be awarded at noon (6 a.m. ET). Riders will start with a clean slate, and any ties for first will result in a jump-off. Ties for other medals will be broken based on time.
The Chronicle has a reporter on site at the Paris Olympics. See all of our coverage here.
