The German gold medallist was the final eventing competitor to leave the arena in Tokyo – where she became the first woman to land the individual Olympic title with the great mare Amande De B’Neville – and the first to enter the arena three years later in Paris.
Coming into these Games, set in the spectacular grounds of the palace of Versailles, is a different ask. Nickel at 10 years old, owned by Sophia Rössel, is less experienced than some here, but has more than proved his talent to mix it with “the big boys”.
It was by virtue of their performance at Aachen a little under a month ago that the pair moved up from the third group of named combinations on the German entries to take the alternate spot. When Sandra Auffarth and Viamant Du Matz withdrew from the German team earlier this week, Julia and Nickel stepped up.
The pair’s first phase score of 26.9 is a little off their personal best performances, but not out of keeping in the context of their past results.
“I’m very pleased,” said Julia. “He had a little spook in the corner left of C, but it speaks for him that he has an ear with me to say, ‘Mum, if you say it’s fine, I will try and go’ –and that’s really his character.
“He really tries his best and whenever he’s not quite sure he waits for me to tell him what to do. He’s a very nice treat of a horse to be so trusting and genuine.
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“He didn’t do much wrong; I think the rein-back wasn’t quite perfect and maybe some little wobbles here and there. I said a score of 27 would be my aim, considering he’s the first starter and it’s the Olympics – they’re not going to throw marks at us – so I just made it.”
The weight of that individual Olympic gold sits lightly on Julia’s shoulders.
“This is a new horse, new games, it’s a new page and I wouldn’t want to put the weight of stepping into those shoes on Nickel, because it’s different – people recognize me more but that’s okay,” she said.
“To be honest, I didn’t have the Olympics marked on my calendar as a case that I’m probably going – it was more like okay, that’s the Olympics, don’t book an expensive holiday there just in case!
“I planned the season for the horse and it turned out that he felt ready and has proved that he’s really able to play with the big boys, and then I was very happy to go as number four.”
That alternate spot requires riders to be ready to step in – when Julia got the nod, she changed her mindset to get her head in the zone and perform for her country.
“I’m proud to be here and I will see what the week brings,” she said.
Caroline Pamukeu leads the way for USA
Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake – the joint youngest horse in the field at nine years old – were the first US combination to take the arena in the French drizzle. This combination landed individual gold at the Pan American Games in Chile last year, the senior championship debut for both horse and rider.
“He’s such a little unicorn,” said Caroline, who produced a score of 30.4 with the gelding she owns with her husband Deniz, mother Sherrie Martin and Mollie Hoff.
“The whole goal for this weekend is not individual performance, it’s team performance. I’m here to give the best consistent dressage test, the best consistent cross-country and the best consistent showjump round because again, team medal is more important than anything else, especially looking towards LA.”
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
