[ad_1]
VERSAILLES, France: German eventing rider Michael Jung won his fourth Olympic gold medal on Monday, beating arch-rivals Christopher Burton of Australia and Laura Collett of Britain in the show jumping final.
Jung, riding his chestnut Hanoverian gelding Chipmunk, won the three-day competition of dressage, cross-country and showjumping with a final score of 21.8 penalties, ahead of Burton at 22.4 penalties and Collette at 23.1 penalties.
Zheng claimed his third individual Olympic title, following London 2012 and Rio 2016, and in addition to Saturday’s stellar dressage performance, he also put in a perfect and perfectly timed cross-country ride over the next two days, as well as two outstanding jumping performances.
The Versailles medal is the first Jung has won riding Chipmunk, a Bavarian horse that won the medal from German Olympian Julia Krajewski in 2019 with the help of its investors.
Jung has said he will “pamper and spoil” his partner with a large serving of carrots before the jumping final.
Although Jung was considered the favorite to win, Australian underdog Burton, ranked 151st internationally, stunned the crowd by beating most of the heavyweights on Shadow Man, a horse with no impressive track record.
This silver medal is his first individual Olympic medal after winning the team bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Britain’s Colette set a new Olympic dressage record on Saturday with London 52, a horse she called the best of her life, but was unable to hold on to first place throughout the competition. –Reuters
[ad_2]
Source link
