Germany clinched a clean sweep of the individual equestrian medals at the Paris Olympics today, with Christian Kukuk and the dazzling grey Westfalian gelding, Checker, producing the only double-clear effort in a dramatic tiebreaker for the show jumping title.
With his stunning performance, Christian joined his compatriots Michael Jung/Chipmunk (eventing) and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl/TSF Dalera BB (dressage) to complete his nation’s reign atop the podiums at Versailles. He followed the victory path of his mentor, Ludger Beerbaum, who took individual Olympic gold in 1992, but Christian is the first German to earn the honor since Ulrich Kirkhoff did it in 1996. Germany now has six individual Olympic show jumping golds.
Christian Kukuk and Checker.
“What a win! It’s the most emotional day in my life, honestly, in my career,” said Christian.
“This is the highest you can achieve in our sport. I’m one of only a few calling myself Olympic champion, Olympic gold medalist.”
He remembered when he and Ludger went to try Checker, and there was an instant attraction.
“I was the one who said, ‘I really want to have this horse.’ From the first moment, I had a special feeling on him, and I had the feeling that he could do something special. It took a while – we always had good results, but in the last year, what he’s done, our partnership, knowing each other so well, created something special.”
His victories this year included a win in the finale of the Winter Equestrian Festival, when he went around during the victory gallop happily clutching his ribbon in his teeth. Second that day was the USA’s McLain Ward, who did not have the chance for a rematch Tuesday after the last fence fell in the Monday qualifier for him and his mount, Ilex.
Thirty riders culled from Monday’s field of 73 came forward for a test over a long and taxing route in the final.
“It’s the toughest course I have ever jumped, the toughest course I have ever seen and Checker made it feel like just another Grand Prix,” said Christian.
It was what is known as a “perfect course” for designers Gregory Bodo of France and Santiago Varela of Spain (as well as technical delegate Guilherme Jorge), with only three riders — one for each medal — making it into the jump-off.
After going clear in 38.34 seconds. Christian blew a kiss toward the packed grandstand and waited to see what his rivals would do. But they were no match for his score.
Steve Guerdat, Christian Kukuk and Maikel van der Vleuten on the podium.
The individual bronze medalist of the Tokyo Games and the 2022 world championships, the Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten on Beauville Z, wound up with the same medal this time after a rail at the Metro oxer and a time of 39.12 seconds
Talking about how difficult the course was he said, “When I came through the finish, I thought the way my horse did this round was unbelievable. It’s a world-class horse and he deserved this medal today.”
The 2012 Olympic champion, Steve Guerdat of Switzerland and Dynamix de Belheme, got unlucky at the next-to last jump and finished with 4 faults in 38.39 seconds, good enough for silver.
“We all aim for gold but to have to the second one (silver) is also very special,” said Steve.
“My mare has been spectacular today and of course, I’m upset about my jump-off, it wasn’t what I wanted, but I want to focus with pride about our second Olympic medal.”
Maiikel van der Vleuten and Beauville Z.
The most surprising moment during the morning came when world number one Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden fell off King Edward as the horse cut left following an iffy line starting with a short stride to the Eiffel Tower jump after the water obstacle. Becoming unbalanced on landing from the next fence, Henrik struggled to stay aboard before the inevitable happened.
“I tried to the last, but I couldn’t, and then of course, he turned left and I went right,” he said.
What happened to a superstar shows the unpredictability of this sport, which makes it intriguing and frustrating at the same time. But it demonstrates that anything can happen on the sport’s biggest stage.
Another example of that: Daniel Coyle of Ireland, who had great rounds with Legacy until the final, knocked down the same double as Karl, then two more fences before retiring.
The jumps have been astoundingly beautiful, each one worthy of praise for its visual properties. The fences, laser-printed and made out of a foam with a hard shell that is painted, recount French history, culture and landmarks. From the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe to the Metro transit system and a sidewalk cafe, they were marvelous.
Click here for the course plan
The U.S. had two riders qualified for the final test in the equestrian portion of the Games. It looked as if Laura Kraut would be fault-free with Baloutinue until the rail came down at the final jump, the LA 2028 obstacle (designed in honor of the next Olympics, as is traditional). She blamed herself, saying she was thinking about making the tight 84-second time allowed and took the fence at too much of an angle.
“My horse was absolutely on it today. He didn’t deserve that,” said Laura, who placed eighth.
Laura Kraut and Baloutinue.
Karl Cook, who jumped three clean rounds during the Games after being called up to the team from his original alternate position, was having a terrific trip with Caracole de la Roque until rails came down at the French deck of cards double combination.
He said he made a mistake around the turn approaching those fences and cut it too sharply. Understandably dismayed, he praised his mare after his sixteenth-place finish, saying “she was jumping amazing before.”
Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque. (US Equestrian photo)
Laura cited the length of the difficult course, where the designers pulled out all the stops because they were dealing with the best of the best.
“This is the first time I’ve ever jumped 15 jumps on course. I could have lived without that,” she observed.
“Fence one was 1.60 (meters); the jumps are huge. It’s 19 jumping efforts; I don’t think we’ve ever jumped 19 efforts on a course.”
But as always happily has been the case in these Games, there were no disasters in terms of serious falls. That is important for equestrian sport, which is often mentioned as a possible leave-out for future Olympics.
U.S. show jumping coach Robert Ridland praised the Paris Games and the way they were produced.
“As a sport, we have to celebrate what a great week of show jumping this was. Win or lose, I think everybody would agree with that.”
As for his team, “We accomplished what we came here for,” he commented, citing the silver medal that his squad won last week.
He noted that just qualifying the team for the Games was “a trial by fire” that did not end until the final chance to make the cut materialized at the Pan American Games last October, but it seasoned the athletes. The result meant this was the third time in a row that the U.S. earned Olympic silver.
“We came here to get on the podium. That’s what we do in Olympics. The individual is the icing on the cake. We could have had a better day today for sure, one mistake each, Robert continued.
“McLain could have had a better day yesterday, but it’s not like he made a huge mistake. One little thing different from all three of them, it would have been a better result for the individual.”
McLain noted on social media, “There is no doubt there is some level of disappointment in not being in contention for an individual medal but as the Paris Olympics come to a close, our sixth games, I am also filled with pride in our USA Showjumping team, our support teams and Ilex.
“I’ve played this game long enough to understand disappointment in results is different from disappointment in performance. Though an individual medal continues to elude me, our team once again delivered a medal-winning performance, fifth time in six games! My supporters, family and I are very proud to have been a part of this legacy.
“In reflection, I always see things I could have done better, but Ilex was brilliant and to be honest, I thought a bit unlucky. He has many great days ahead in his future and I’m very grateful to everyone who has brought us together and made our partnership possible, especially Bonne Chance Farm (which own the horse with McLain).
“Most of alI, I am forever grateful and thankful for the people around me who continue to be unwavering in their support and belief in chasing our dreams.”
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