After Ben Maher’s foot-perfect clear earlier in the day, Great Britain’s second line rider Harry Charles (Romeo 88) kept Great Britain firmly in the hunt on day one of team competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic showjumping with just four faults.
“Ben gave me all the feedback,” said Harry. “The lines didn’t really suit Romeo – he’s not the biggest striding horse and today was more suited to a bigger striding horse. So when I walked the course I had quite a different plan to the one I rode. But that’s the beauty of not going first, you can watch a few and slightly adapt it. If I was to go in and ride it again, I would do a few things differently. But Ben is amazing to have on the ground to give you a few pointers. So I’m happy he’s going first.”
Harry, whose arm is strapped up after fracturing it in two places just weeks before the Olympics, and the 15-year-old gelding made a hugely positive start for Great Britain. The duo sailed down the tricky line of a water jump on a dog-leg sandwiched between a vertical and an oxer. Having swung wide to the triple combination – the penultimate fence on the course – they just tapped out the flimsy pink plank that tops the vertical at the middle element, which has caught out plenty of combinations throughout the opening qualifier of the team competition.
“My arm feels perfect,” said Harry, 25, who made his Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games, also riding Romeo 88. “I didn’t really feel it, but I can’t wait to get this [support bandage] off and get some air to it – it’s so hot here!
“Sure, it disturbed my preparations a bit, but I knew when I got straight back on a horse a few weeks ago, that it was going to be fine – I’ll make it work. I would say it’s nearly fully healed. I don’t know if the doctors would agree with me but it feels pretty good.”
“I was of course a bit nervous going in there – you never really 100% know what’s going to happen,” added Harry. “But he was great. There are some spooky jumps out there, some really technical lines and it’s probably a bit bigger than I thought it would be. But I’m very happy with four faults and the most important thing is that he finished as well as he started, so tomorrow we all go back to zero and we start from scratch, so it’s a new fight tomorrow.
“I don’t want to let Ben and Scott down either, they’re amazing guys. But to have a full crowd here – which we didn’t get to have in Tokyo – is fantastic and to see the stands packed out is even cooler. This really feels like something a bit bigger than showjumping, with all the other athletes and stuff like that, so I’m very proud to be part of Team GB.”
The top 10 teams from Thursday’s 20-strong qualifier progress to Friday’s team medal decider. The individual showjumping contest at the Paris 2024 Olympics begins on Monday 5 August with the medals decided the following day.
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