Equestrian eventing came to a triumphant finish Monday as Great Britain made history and claimed equestrian's first gold medal of the Games.
Great Britain defended its team eventing title from Tokyo, claiming a second consecutive gold medal in a competition that it dominated from start to finish. There never seemed to be any doubt that the British would win—particularly after their closest competitor Germany was effectively eliminated by a fall in the cross-country round— and with an overall score of 91.3 they were able to secure the team title. The British were the only team to finish with a team score under 100 points.
With its gold medal, Great Britain has tied the United States for the most Olympic team eventing medals of all time with 12 total. It also has the most Olympic team gold medals of all time with five, moving ahead of both the United States and Australia with four each.
Host nation France secured a silver medal finish after entering the final day trailing the British by 4.7 points. While they were unable to overcome the deficit, consistent performances across all three events helped the French lock in a total score of 103.6 and improve upon their Tokyo bronze medal to finish second on home soil. This is France’s first silver medal in a team eventing competition, joining its two gold and two bronze medals from previous Games.
Japan swept up the bronze medal in team eventing and scored its first Olympic Equestrian medal in 92 years after collecting just two points in the jumping final. It finished with a total score of 115.8, meaning all three medalists finished with a score under 120. Japan was trailed by Belgium with 123.4, Switzerland with 128.4 and Sweden with 130.5.
The United States finished the competition in seventh place, bouncing back from a tough cross-country session with just 5.2 points in jumping to finish with a total score of 133.7.
As the final stage of the three-part eventing discipline, jumping is covered over the course of two rounds. Riders took to the course in the first round to determine their scores towards the team competition and the top 25 will qualify for the individual eventing final, which will take place Monday afternoon.