Olympic team showjumping: riders' thoughts on Santiago Varela’s course

Olympic showjumping course designer Santiago Varela provided one last challenge for the riders in the team final at the Tokyo Games.

First to jump for the United States, Laura Kraut and Baloutine, produced the first clear, and this was followed by Sweden’s first rider Henrick von Eckermann and King Edward.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

TOPICS

Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.

‘All you have to do is breathe on them’: riders reflect on Santiago Varela’s ‘tough’ Olympic showjumping team final course

French rider Simon Delestre had a clear jumping round but picked up one time-penalty. He described the course as “delicate” and “difficult to jump”.

“The course designer has produced an amazing job all week. [Today] it’s a bit higher, with some more difficult distances, and three combinations,” he said.

Laura Kraut agreed the Olympic team showjumping course was a step up from the qualifier.

“The jumps were bigger and the distances were hard,” she said. “It’s the stamina [you need]; we had the two doubles and the triple. We had the water, several planks – all you have to do is breathe on them and the last vertical is gigantic!

“Santiago is an amazing course builder, he knew he had the 10 best teams and he needed to build [for them].”

Fellow team US rider and Olympic debutante Jessica Springsteen, who picked up four-faults with Don Juan Van De Donkhoeve, said the course was “super technical”.

“There were a lot of half strides where you were able to do one less or one more,” she said. “It was a great course.”

German rider Maurice Tebbel who picked up four-faults on Don Diarado said it was a “tough course”.

“Everything came really quick. I tried to be in the time today and start quicker because at the end you can’t make up the time,” he said.

You might also be interested in:

‘He couldn’t have done more for me today’: Harry Charles on his Olympic showjumping team final round

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

The Olympic showjumping team final course – see the fences that will determine who takes the last Tokyo equestrian medals