Michael Jung rode into the showjumping final with one fence in hand over his nearest rival – but in the end he didn’t need it, jumping clear to secure gold in the eventing.
He becomes the first person to win back-to-back individual Olympic golds since Mark Todd achieved this feat at the 1984 and 1988 Games.
Originally planning to ride his horse FischerTakinou, Jung instead made the decision to switch to Sam FBW shortly before Rio – and his old campaigner didn’t let him down, finishing on their dressage score of 40.90.
Just a few months after the pair clinched the Rolex Grand Slam by winning Badminton, they have added yet another gold medal to their collection. Jung now has three Olympic golds, two World golds and six from the European championships.
“It’s the second time to win with Sam and that makes it even more special, I couldn’t be more proud of him,” said Jung. “He is so strong, on the cross-country he can run every hill, jump every fence but in showjumping he’s very nervous and it’s hard for him to concentrate. He jumped better in the second round than in the first. Yesterday it was difficult for me in the warm-up because of the people and the noise, but today the preparation was much nicer because it was quiet and he could settle.”
In second was France’s Astier Nicolas, who did well to get things back on track after crashing through an oxer early in the course, while third was the USA’s Phillip Dutton.
Australia’s Sam Griffiths and Christopher Burton finished fourth and fifth respectively, just out of the medals.
William Fox-Pitt was the only British rider in the individual final. He jumped clear on Chilli Morning to move up into 12th place.