Where do we begin to describe Friday's Olympic team final at Paris 2024? This competition had it ALL: The breath-taking venue in Versailles with the palace and park as the most iconic backdrop, a fantastic crowd, the best horses and riders in the world with their respective support teams, the most stunning fences you could wish for, to-the-point course design, forgive us if we forgot to mention something, but it was just all over awesome. 

In the end, it would all come down to Scott Brash to decide what the podium was going to look like, but this is a man that is already legendary in the sport for his achievements. Brash could allow himself two time penalties, but not more with the American score like the breath of a dragon in his neck. But, when Brash brings his A game, there are not many better than him – and that was just the case on this Friday afternoon in Versailles as the British 38-year-old piloted Jefferson to one of the most important clear rounds of his life, bringing home the gold for Britain. USA claimed the silver – just like in Tokyo, and the French the bronze.

“It’s a whirlwind of emotions," Brash said about his feelings as he had secured the gold medal as last to go. "I am absolutely delighted, and so proud of Jefferson – I thought he was unbelievable. I feel relief as well as joy. It was an amazing experience and another memory that will live with me forever."

“We have amazing horses, and it comes down to some experience and great riding at the end of the day,” Maher said. “They were two of the best rounds, the hardest rounds, but two of the best rounds I have seen ridden. They were executed perfectly for those horses and at the end of the day it comes down to timing in every sport and bringing it together at the right time and I probably would say that none of us could have done a better job than we did today. It is not that we go home thinking we could have done something better, and that is very rare in our sport. Everything came together and it is just an amazing feeling.”

“Our family has a lot to thank Ben and Scott for, they were on the podium with my dad in London and now I get to share a podium with these guys,” 25-year-old Charles smiled. “I have looked up to them since I was a kid and started to ride and to now win a gold medal alongside them is beyond my dreams. My dad has been such a big part of everything, also this team today, and I would not be sitting here today without him. We nearly even got a tear out of him earlier, so I am going to go back and we are going to celebrate as a family. He kissed Ben apparently!” Charles laughed.

And with this photo special, we say congratulations to Great Britain as we look back at how it all unfolded for them in the team final in Versailles. 

All photos © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping. No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.