At the age of 62, Swedish showjumper Rolf-Göran Bengtsson is still several years behind Great Britain’s very own legendary veteran John Whitaker, who turns 70 next year and recently clinched victory for his country in the Agria Nations Cup of Great Britain.
But at Paris 2024, Rolf holds the honour of being the oldest rider competing in the Olympic showjumping – missing out only to 65-year-old Spanish dressage rider Juan Antoniio Jiminez Cobo of Spain as the oldest athlete competing at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Rolf has an enviable Olympic record, jumping at his first Games at Atlanta in 1996, winning team silver at Athens in 2004 and individual silver on the mighty Ninja La Silla in Hong Kong four years later.
He helped Sweden’s chances of a medal in Paris considerably during Thursday’s opening round of the team competition, producing a fantastic clear with Zuccero HV to ensure qualification for Friday’s team final.
“I cannot ask more of my horse, he really showed the quality he has,” says Rolf of the 12-year-old VDL Zirocco Blue stallion. “He was brave, he was careful, he let me ride him exactly like I wanted to have the horse going. I’m more than happy and he showed me what we can do.
“My only little thing was that after the water he went a bit longer than I walked it, so I had to push quite hard to reach that distance of five strides. But he did it well. He lived up to his quality and I’m super happy for him and it’s great for everybody around him.”
Sweden has reigned as European, Olympic and world showjumping champions for the past 12 months and, after many years as the country’s leading rider, Rolf revealed how difficult it is now to earn a place on the squad with so many high-calibre riders all vying for a place.
“I was maybe a little bit alone there for many years, but now we have a super strong team,” says Rolf, currently ranked 75th in the world.
Rolf was missing from Sweden’s championship roster for several years after Rio 2016, only returning to the fold in 2021. He and Zuccero were part of the squad who won team gold at the European Championships in Milan last year and he was picked as one of Sweden’s trio jumping for round one of the Paris Olympic showjumping alongside Henrik von Eckermann (King Edward) and Peder Fredricson on Catch Me Not S.
“It was hard to get in, like in Tokyo there was no chance to break into the three riders there, so I’m very happy to come back with a horse like Zuccero and he has proved now that he is also one of them,” says Rolf.
“He’s quite sure of himself, he’s brave, he’s careful, he’s nice to ride – all the good positive things and in a good mix. I just have to play my card in the best way and he can do the job.”
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