Olympic team showjumping final: Britain qualifies in seventh place

Ben Maher riding Explosion W in the Olympic team showjumping qualifier at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games — Ben Maher ( GBR) riding Explosion W in the Team Jumping Qualifier for the Team Final for the Olympic Jumping Competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held at Equestrian Park in Setagaya-ku in Tokyo in Japan between the 23rd July and 8th August 2021

(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Britain is through to the Olympic team showjumping final at the Tokyo Games after all three riders have jumped in the Olympic showjumping qualifying round.

Our last combination Ben Maher and Explosion W, whose superb performances on Tuesday (3 August) and Wednesday (4 August) earned them the individual gold medal, were unlucky to hit just one fence in an otherwise faultless round on the tough team qualifier course to secure Britain a spot in tomorrow’s (7 August) final.

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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.

‘We’ll come out fighting tomorrow’: Britain secures place in Olympic team showjumping final

Ben noted that Explosion was one of only about eight horses who had gone on five strides to the planks at the end of the course, adding: “He has laser vision! He can see those planks and he measures them, and the five was always the right option for me.”

Ben said he had not yet had much chance to celebrate his amazing achievement winning individual gold, as there was only one day between that and today’s team competition.

“We still do have a job to do here and we’re going to be coming out fighting tomorrow,” he said.

All 10 teams that qualified for the final start on zero scores tomorrow; today’s faults do not carry over. Their relevance is to decide the starting order so Sweden, who finished without a single fault, will be last to go. Britain will be fourth in the rider rotations.

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