Text © World of Showjumping

On Tuesday night, it was finally time for the individual jumping qualifier at the Olympic Games in Tokyo – and the competition was a real roller-coaster ride, which twisted and turned unexpectedly along the way. Spain’s Santiago Varela had built a brilliant course for the occasion, which counted fourteen jumps and seventeen efforts – set at 1.65m – and with a time allowed of 89 seconds. 

With only the 30 best of the 73-horse-and-rider combinations moving forward to Wednesday’s individual final, it was always going to be tough – but Varela’s course had a beautiful balance to it, and eventually the cut was made by a fine line between those with time penalties and those with a fence down. A total of 25 pairs qualified with a clear round, four pairs qualified on a time penalty – and one pair with two time penalties. Just outside of qualifying were those on four faults. 

The competition kicked off with Ibrahim Hani Bisharat as pathfinder, but after having one pole down on fence nr. 2 and a refusal in the triple combination, the Jordanian rider opted to retire. The Moroccan, Mexican and Chinese riders that followed had no luck either and all finished with three or four poles down. The first rider who managed to keep the course intact was Egypt’s Mouda Zeyada, who finished on only a time penalty with Galanthos SHK (Arthos R x Cantos) – celebrating a great Olympic debut as he crossed the finish line. 

Some nations really stood out in terms of performances tonight, and the hosts impressed when all their three riders were clear on the fences: Daisuke Fukushima and Chanyon (Chacco-Blue x Grand Canyon) delivered the first clear of the qualifier when following as next to go after Zeyada, and seven riders later his compatriot Koki Saito produced another great clear for Japan with Chilensky (Chintan x Cornet Obolensky) before their third individual competitor Eiken Sato finished with only a time fault aboard Saphyr des Lacs (Mr. Blue x First Bride) – all three have qualified for Wednesday’s individual final, a fantastic achievement on home soil.

Not all had the same good day at the office as the Japanese squad, as many of the horses did not take a liking to the spectacular design on the fences. The Sumo Tower and Wrestler upright at fence 10 caused problems for the French riders: First Mathieu Billot had a refusal here, then Penelope Leprevost – and Egypt’s Abdel Said also got in trouble at this jump when Bandit Savoie (Qlassic Bois Margot x Alcamera de Moyon) slammed on the breaks. The open water claimed its victims too; Sri Lanka’s Olympic debutant Mathilda Karlsson was eliminated here after first having a refusal at the Gold Fish upright with a water tray beneath – while Israel’s Alberto Michan parted ways with Cosa Nostra (Conthargos x Quintender) who decided to sneak out to the side, rather than jump. The last line also caused headache, especially the oxer at 13a with its silver poles that came on four forward strides from the Nikko Mausoleum wall – the whole US squad got caught out here, first Jessica Springsteen, then Kent Farrington and Laura Kraut, and they were not the only ones. 

It was a tough day for many – where one pole meant it was game over individually – including 2012 Olympic Champion Steve Guerdat of Switzerland who will have to watch the individual final from the side-line after having the back rail of the Tokyo 2020-triple bar down with Venard de Cerisy (Open Up Semilly x Djalisco du Guet). Luckily for the Swiss, their reigning European Champions Martin Fuchs and Clooney 51 (Cornet Obolensky x Ferragamo) made it through to the final as did Beat Mändli and Dsarie (Vernon x Ahorn) who finished on a time fault.

In addition to the Japanese riders, the Irish also looked strong, with all their three individual competitors securing a place in the final after clear rounds: First Darragh Kenny, who rode a tremendous round on Cartello (Cartani 4 x Lord) – the second clear in the class – before Bertram Allen and Cian O’Connor joined in with their 9-year-old Irish bred horses Pacino Amiro (Pacino x NC Amiro) and Kilkenny (Cardento x Guidam).

“I think the Irish team did really well,” O’Connor commented after the qualifier. “It’s great having three clears, it’s obviously a long week and this is just the first step out of the way – but we are on the right track. With the new format, there are only thirty through to tomorrow, so it was a very tough job for the course builder – but Santiago did a great job as all those with clears and on time faults qualified. In relation to tomorrow, it’s like another Grand Prix, so it’s anyone’s game really. We hope the horses are in good shape so we can try to do our best. It’s all to play for, and I am happy to be in for tomorrow.”

Also the British riders delivered three incredibly strong performances, from Olympic debutants Harry Charles and Romeo 88 (Contact vd Heffinck x Orlando), to gold medal candidates Ben Maher and Explosion W (Chacco-Blue x Baloubet du Rouet) as well as Scott Brash and Jefferson (Cooper van de Heffink x Irco Mena). With their three clear rounds, they all secured a spot in tomorrow’s individual final – and Maher topped the field of 73 with the fastest time of the day, making his mark ahead of the battle for the medals. 

“He was great,” said Maher of Explosion W after his round. “It was a big course today and very spooky – I don’t know if it's the new fences or the lights – and I felt that on him. This is my most nervous round of the week because he's a horse that improves as the rounds go on, so he was having a lot of looks today, but he's a fast horse and he knows what he needs to do."

“It was a fair course that suited Explosion – it’s relatively big but all the distances were a bit open. He grows in confidence when I ride with a bit of speed – I have to trust his quality and ride with that pace. I didn’t want to miss qualifying today, so I made the decision to go in and attack a bit. He felt great and it fills me with confidence. He’s coming off the back of two 5* Grand Prix wins – we have momentum, but these weeks can throw in big surprises. I’m confident but I also just go in there and do my best on the day."

The Swedes also convinced with all their riders producing clears, first Henrik von Eckermann with King Edward (Edward 28 x Feo), followed by Malin Baryard-Johnsson who had her hands full with the feisty Indiana (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Animo’s Hallo) and then 2016 Vice Olympic Champions Peder Fredricsson and All In (Kashmir van Schuttershof x Andiamo Z).

“It felt really good I have to say. I thought he jumped amazing today, totally fantastic,” Fredricson said afterwards about his partner All In – who was one of two horses in today’s qualifier that also competed at the Olympics in Rio in 2016. “It’s great with all three Swedes to the final. It will be a nice team dinner tonight, with everyone in a good mood!”

“Santiago is a fantastic course builder,” Fredricson continued. "When you walk his courses, you see some of the difficulties but then when you walk it again you see new ones – he really thinks. I maybe thought it would be even a bit more difficult, and that you would get through with a fast four-fault round. Now it was quite a few clears, but I think he did a great job and it was definitely not an easy course. The quality on the horses and riders is steadily on the rise and the sport is moving forwards.”

In 2019, Belgium won team gold at the European Championships in Rotterdam and today they showed how strong they are with three beautiful clear rounds from Niels Bruynseels and Delux van T&L (Toulon x Landetto), Gregory Wathelet and Nevados (Calvados Z x Romualdo) as well as Jerome Guery and Quel Homme de Hus (Quidam de Revel x Candillo) – who all are through to the individual final. 

“I am so happy with the job we did today,” Guery said afterwards about the Belgian performances. “The course was not really, really big but delicate and technical. We knew exactly what we had to do, we had to be clear – that was the rule for today! My horse listened to me perfectly and was really flying around the course. All the Belgian horses are in super form, it’s great to start off like this and of course it gives us confidence – but, we will see for tomorrow and I hope we continue like today.”

The Dutch had two of their three riders qualifying, as both Marc Houtzager and Dante (Canturano x Phin Phin) as well as Maikel van der Vleuten and Beauville (Bustique x Jumpy des Fontaines) jumped clear rounds – as did Egypt when Nayel Nassar delivered a clear on Igor van de Wittemoere (Cooper Vd Heffinck x Orlando), joining Zeyada for the final. Germany on the other hand only has one rider through to the individual final; world no. one Daniel Deusser with Killer Queen (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x For Pleasure). France – reigning Olympic team champions from Rio – did also see only one of their competitors qualifying; Nicolas Delmotte with Urvoso du Roch (Nervoso x Grand d’Escla). For Israel, Ashlee Bond powered through to the individual final with one of the best rounds of the day aboard her wonderful Donatello 141 (Diarado x Lamourex).

Norway’s 61-year-old Geir ‘Jimmy’ Gulliksen impressed today too – showing that age is just a number when he as the oldest competitor of the class qualified for Wednesday’s final with Quatro (Quaprice Bois Margot x Caletto I) after recording only a single time penalty. 

All the thirty riders will start on zero penalties in tomorrow’s individual final, which begins at 19.00 local time.

Click here for the results from Tuesday's individual qualifier.

Click here for the order to go for Wednesday's individual final.