Olympic team showjumping final: Holly Smith jumps first for Britain

Holly Sith riding Denver in the Olympic team showjumping final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games — Holly Smith ( GBR) riding Denver in the Team Jumping 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)

It was a less than ideal start for Britain in the Olympic showjumping team final at the Tokyo Olympics, as Holly Smith and Denver had three down and a foot in the water to finish on 16 faults.

The team pathfinders had got off to a strong start on Santiago Varela’s 14-fence track, and it was looking to be a good round until the sixth fence – the nature, landscape and animals treble. Holly was heard to cry “woah” on the approach, and Denver rattled the first upright.

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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.

‘Like being in a tumble drier’: Holly Smith jumps first for Britain in Olympic team medal decider

That stayed in place but the second element, an oxer with a water tray, fell.

Denver then looked a bit far off the water at fence nine and landed with a foot in it for another four faults. They hit the second part of the double at fence 12, a 1.65m oxer, and the Japanese calligraphy oxer at fence 13.

“The result just isn’t good enough, we’re a great showjumping nation and it must be better than that,” Holly said.

“It started off really well, I think. The beginning of the round was great, an unlucky fault in the middle of the combination; he jumped a little bit to the right at the oxer, normally he jumps to the left. The seven strides then became ridiculously long and it just unravelled a bit after that.

“But we’ll come back by thinking ‘I’m tough, my team’s tough, bring on Paris’.”

Holly said today’s track is tougher than yesterday’s, for the medal decider, adding: “It’s like being in a tumble drier in there.”

“Let’s see what Harry and Ben can do,” she said.

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