Ben Maher added another gold to Team GB's tally after he won the individual showjumping gold at Tokyo Equestrian Park after eclipsing his rivals aboard the brilliant Explosion W.
Maher produced a dazzling display under the floodlights to give Team GB its second successive Olympic showjumping champion following Nick Skelton’s success with Big Star in Rio five years ago.
The 38-year-old helped Britain to London 2012 team gold alongside Skelton, Scott Brash and Peter Charles, and he added individual title glory after living up to his tag as pre-Games favourite.
Great Britain's Ben Maher riding Explosion W in the Individual Jumping Final at Equestrian Park on the twelfth day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. Picture date: Wednesday August 4, 2021.
Adam Davy
Thirty combinations contested the final, with six going through to a jump-off before Maher triumphed from silver medallist Peder Fredricson, of Sweden, and Holland’s Maikel van der Vleuten in bronze.
Maher’s victory gave the Great Britain equestrian team a fifth Olympic medal in Tokyo, equalling their record haul achieved in London.
His win followed gold for the eventing team and Tom McEwen’s individual eventing silver, plus team dressage bronze and Charlotte Dujardin’s individual dressage bronze.
Enfield-born Maher likened Explosion W’s power to driving a Ferrari following victory in the £430,000 Rolex Grand Prix at Royal Windsor last month.
Medalists Great Britain's Ben Maher (Gold), Swedens Peder Fredricson (Silver) and Netherlands Maikel van der Vleuten (Bronze) after the Jumping Individual Final at Equestrian Park on the twelfth day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. Picture date: Wednesday August 4, 2021.
Adam Davy
And there was a jaw-dropping quality to what was effectively a showjumping masterclass on the sport’s biggest stage. Maher won by 17 hundredths of a second, delivering a memorable jump-off round to take the Olympic title. His Team GB colleagues Scott Brash and Harry Charles, though, did not make the jump-off.
It was agony for Brash on Hello Jefferson following an immaculate jumping round, but one time fault ended their medal chances.
Charles, meanwhile, had four fences down on Romeo 88 and retired just before the end of his round, but it was a valuable experience for one of British showjumping’s most exciting young riders. Ireland’s trio of Cian O’Connor, Bertram Allen and Darragh Kenny also missed out, with O’Connor – like Brash – collecting a solitary time fault.