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Olympic eventer Julia Krajewski: ‘I thought about giving up, but being around horses is just what I love to do’ *H&H Plus*

Pippa Roome Pippa Roome

    • Julia Krajewski ’s hopes of setting her Olympic record right in Tokyo may have been shattered, but she will be back. Pippa Roome meets her

    TWO months ago Julia Krajewski was a potential individual medallist at this summer’s Olympics, as certain of her ticket to Tokyo as any rider. Now, the horse the German should have taken on that journey, Samourai Du Thot (pictured above), will never event at the top level again. He grazes in the field, sound and happy, but his cruel early retirement has been forced by the loss of an eye.

    “He had this infection a while ago, but everything was going fine, I was training him with our eyes set on Tokyo,” says Julia. “Then, it turned worse. His eye was operated on twice, it didn’t work, he became blind. To keep the infection from going to his brain, they had to remove his eye.”

    Speaking a week after announcing the retirement of “Sam”, Julia is admirably calm.

    This interview can also be read in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 6 May

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    Pippa Roome
    Pippa Roome

    H&H magazine editor and eventing editor
    Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
    Pippa Roome