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Image credit: British Equestrian/Jon Stroud Media
Day one of the Paris Olympics saw Team GB surpass expectations as they take gold medal position after the dressage phase of eventing, and break two new Olympic records. Great Britain’s eventing team is made up of Tom McEwen and JL Dublin, Laura Collett riding London 52 and Rosalind Canter with Lordships Gruffalo.

Image credit: FEI/Benjamin Clark
First to go for Great Britain was Tom McEwen and the 13-year-old gelding JL Dublin (Dubs). Taking an early lead with a score of 25.80, the Tokyo individual silver and team gold medallist did enough to move ahead of six-time Olympian Karin Donckers and Liepheimer Van’t Verahof. On completing their test, Tom said: “Dubs was awesome. He loves an atmosphere, and I must say, he really lit up in the trot – a bit more than I was expecting – and was super relaxed in the walk, which then caught me out for the first flying change. However, despite the missed change, we then picked back up where we left off. The main goal was to put Great Britain in a good starting position, and we did that.”
Next up was Laura Collett and London 52 (Dan) who not only set a new personal best but also a new Olympic dressage record with a score of 17.50. Laura, who owns the 15-year-old gelding along with Keith Scott and Karen Bartlett, commented: “Dan is one in a million. I’ve said all along that he loves a crowd, and I was just hoping I hadn’t made a mistake saying that when I saw the crowd that was here. He’s an absolute show-off and he loved being in front of a palace with a lot of people cheering him on. There’s a lot of people involved in getting a score like that and I’m just the lucky one who gets to sit there and enjoy the moment. It’s a huge team effort just to get here, let alone go and do a performance like that. There are too many people to thank.”

Image credit: British Equestrian/Jon Stroud Media
World number one Rosalind Canter riding Lordships Graffalo (Walter) managed to break a second Olympic record for Team GB on day one. Previously, the record team score after dressage at an Olympic Games was 68.60 (for Australia in Hong Kong in 2008) and Rosalind needed to score 25.20 or lower to beat this. Despite a few issues with the flying changes and a trip into the halt before the rein back, Rosalind’s score of 23.40 was enough to beat Australia’s 2008 record, finishing with a team score of 66.60. Rosalind said: “I’m extremely proud of Walter. I know he’s won Badminton and the Europeans but he’s only 12 years old. He very much feels like we’re still only scratching the surface and I’ve reminded myself a lot over the past week that I’d delighted with a clear round. I’m just excited that he could produce what he did on a World stage like this.
Germany’s Michael Jung riding Chipmunk FRH couldn’t quite do enough to take Laura off the top spot but finished the day in second place with a dressage score of 17.80, with China’s Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne Van Bareelhof finishing joint third on 22.00.
As day one closes, here’s how things stand…
1st – Laura Collett and London 52 (Great Britain) – 17.50
2nd – Michael Jung and Chipmunk FRH (Germany) – 17.80
Equal 3rd – Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne Van Bareelhof (China) and Christopher Burton and Shadow Man (Australia) – 22.00
5th – Felix Vogg and Dao De L’Ocean (Switzerland) – 22.10
6th – Rosalind Canter and Lordships Graffalo (Great Britain) 23.40
7th – Stephane Landois and Chaman Dumontceau (France) – 24.40
8th – Yoshiaki Oiwa and MGH Grafton Street (Japan) – 25.50
Equal 9th – Clarke Johnstone and Menlo Park (New Zealand) and Giovanni Ugolotti and Swirly Temptress (Italy) – 25.70
Tomorrow sees the riders tackle the Olympic cross-country course with all the action starting at 9.30am British time.
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