Team Great Britain reminds us today about the amazing story of how Harry Charles replicated his father’s Olympic show jumping team gold medal performance, a little over a decade after Peter Charles stood on the podium in London. Since Harry has been in the news recently for his engagement to Eve Jobs, daughter of Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs, it’s only fair to focus on the athlete’s professional claim to fame.
Harry Charles was 13 years old when he watched his father Peter win team show jumping gold at London 2012.
It was in that moment that he realized exactly what he wanted to do – abandoning a fledgling golfing career to focus on equestrian.
Even in his wildest dreams, though, he could not have imagined that he would match his dad in taking Olympic gold, and what is more, alongside Scott Brash and Ben Maher, who were also part of the team in London.
Harry Charles in Paris. (Getty Images)
In doing so, the Charles men are the first father-son combination to win Olympic gold for Team GB since 1948 – rowers Dickie and Charles Burnell (1908 Games) were the last to do it.
But Harry Charles must surely be the first to have won alongside his dad’s teammates, the triumphant quartet in London being Ben, Scott, Peter Charles and Nick Skelton, in a slightly different format (four team members, rather than the current three).
Harry said: “I was at Greenwich Park (for the 2012 Games); I was 13 when I watched these two boys (Scott and Ben). It’s pretty cool.
“They are both my heroes, guys I’ve looked up to since I started riding. To be on the podium with them, my inner, younger self is freaking out a little bit.
“My dad wanted me to be a golfer, so I was playing a lot of golf and riding a few ponies at the same time. I realized I was a lot better at riding a horse than swinging a golf club. So that was definitely the most pivotal moment.
“Before the competition, my dad said, `Enjoy it, whatever you do. You’ve worked hard to get here.’ And after he said, ‘Enjoy it, enjoy every minute of that ceremony, this will probably be the best moment of your life’ .”
Just 25 at Paris, Harry was the baby of the showjumping world – all the more remarkable when you consider that he was not even an Olympic newcomer, having made his debut in Tokyo.
There, Great Britain could only manage seventh, but this time around, they led from start to finish, despite Harry still mending a broken wrist he fractured in a fall three weeks earlier.
Ben Maher kicked things off with a fantastic performance on Dallas Vegas Batilly, scoring just one time penalty, as he was one of only two people to go avoid a knockdown, and the quickest of the two.
Harry then followed suit on Romeo 88, going clear despite clipping the tenth jump, as GB maintained a two-penalty lead over host nation France, one penalty to three.
By the time Scott was up on Hello Jefferson, the equation was simple, leave all the rails in place, pick up at most two time penalties and Great Britain would be champions.
Like Harry, Scott clipped a fence, playing with the nerves of those watching, but most important, holding his own.
A second time penalty meant that Britain finished on two penalties, two clear of the USA in silver, with hosts France taking bronze on seven.
With this win, Ben (the 2021 individual gold medalist in Tokyo) joined dressage competitor Charlotte Dujardin and the late eventer Richard Meade (his son, Harry, is now world number one in that discipline) as the only equestrians to win three gold medals for Team GB.
With Peter in attendance supporting the team in Versailles last year, Scott admitted it was quite a surreal feeling to have now won Olympic gold alongside two generations of the Charles family.
The London 2012 team (top) Nick Skelton, Ben Maher, Scott Brash Peter Charles. The Paris 2024 team (bottom) Scott Brash, Harry Charles, Ben Maher.
He and Ben “feel a bit like the old veterans. Pete played a massive role, even here (Paris). It’s invaluable having him on our shoulder, giving advice. Having that mentor is really good for all of us.
“Harry is only 25 but he’s very experienced already. It’s amazing to have good riders coming up in our country and I think the future looks bright.”
Ben, meanwhile, had put Great Britain into the perfect position, and even after all he has achieved as a three-time Olympic champion, explained that days this flawless come few and far between.
He said: “I would probably say none of us could have done a better job today than we did. It’s not like we will go home and think we could do something better than we did and it’s very rare in our sport. Everything came together and it was just an amazing feeling.”
Just as had been the case 12 years before, Ben, Scott and a Charles stood on the podium celebrating Olympic gold.
