Summer Games in Paris: Disappointment among the show jumpers: fifth place instead of gold

National coach Otto Becker watched the last rides of the competitors for the medals on a large TV screen in the warm-up area. The dream of Germany winning gold in show jumping for the last 24 years, or at least a medal, had long since ended when the British celebrated their Olympic victory. The coach was correspondingly disappointed after finishing fifth: “That is of course a disappointment.”

Becker was not the only one who had hoped for more after a flawless qualification. After the German team’s performance in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, he said: “They were good today too, the team didn’t deserve that.” At the same time, Becker admitted: “The others were better today.”

Early end of hopes

The dream of gold for Germany’s show jumpers ended in the second of three rounds. When starting rider Christian Kukuk and Richard Vogel also made a mistake with his horse United Touch, the German trio had to give up their hopes of their first Olympic victory since 2000 in Sydney.

“The qualification was outstanding, the final was good – but good is not enough for a medal at this high level,” summed up sports director Dennis Peiler. The sports director of the FN equestrian association admitted: “In the end, there is disappointment.” Behind Great Britain, the USA took silver, and bronze went to France.

Zero round comes too late

The German delegation trudged back to the stables from the 15,000-seat venue with embarrassed expressions on their faces. A total of eight penalty points were simply too many to be able to intervene in the medal fight. Even the flawless performance of European Championship runner-up Philipp Weishaupt did not change that at the end.

The 39-year-old from Riesenbeck rode confidently through the course with Zineday – but it wasn’t enough to win a medal. “I’m happy with my performance. But something was missing today. We didn’t manage to do it like we did in the qualification,” said Weishaupt.

The German trio had started the final as the top favorites after their performance the day before. Only Germany had zero penalty points in the qualification – but when it mattered, the team of national coach Becker came away empty-handed in front of the royal crowd.

It started from scratch

“Yes, of course, that was a shame,” said Kukuk, referring to the flawless rounds in the qualification. “But that is in the past. We knew what the format was.” On Friday, due to the new Olympic regulations, everyone started from scratch again. “There is no need to discuss that now,” said the national coach.

As the starting rider of the German team, Kukuk had the chance to put his team in the lead. No other pair had managed to complete the difficult course without a penalty point before the 34-year-old from Riesenbeck – and until shortly before the end of the 525-meter-long course with 14 obstacles, things were going perfectly in the saddle of Checker. But the pair messed up on the penultimate jump. “When we jumped out of the combination, our luck ran out,” said Kukuk: “It was actually a great round, but then we made a stupid mistake.”

Vogel also receives penalty points

Unlike on the first day, Vogel rode second in the final, and the pressure increased due to the first faultless rounds of the competitors. The 27-year-old from Marburg also showed “actually a great round,” as Kukuk found. But Vogel also rode out of the stadium with four penalty points.

“I don’t want to sugarcoat it, but my horse jumped fantastically,” commented Vogel. “It was the only pole that fell,” said the 27-year-old. “That’s our sport,” added the man from Marburg, and was self-critical: “I simply should have ridden better.” Now there are still chances in the individual event on Monday and Tuesday. Weishaupt’s goal is clear: “I want my medal!”