Laura Collett bags bronze medal for Great Britain in the individual eventing

Anita Chambers, PA, Paris

Laura Collett collected a bronze medal on London 52 in the individual eventing competition at the Paris Olympics.

After securing team gold earlier in the day, Collett went into the individual jumping round in third, with fellow Brit Tom McEwen 2.7 penalties behind in fourth.

Both jumped clear, but with German Michael Jung and Australian Christopher Burton also enjoying perfect rounds to take first and second respectively, Collett had to be content with third.

Laura Collett on London 52 taking off to jump a fence at the evening individual event at the Paris Olympics.
Great Britain’s Laura Collett jumps a fence aboard London 52 en route to eventing individual bronze at the Paris Olympics (David Davies/PA).

Collett told the BBC: “I thought (gold in) Tokyo was special but this is incomparable. It has blown that out the water. Going out in front of a crowd like this and feeling like every single person is willing you on.

“It felt like Dan felt that too. He tried so hard, I am just the lucky one that gets to steer him. I owe absolutely everything to that horse. This is just a day I will never, ever forget.”

Collett had led after the first day of competition, having scored an Olympic record of 17.5 in the dressage phase.

However, a time penalty of 0.80 for the cross-country handed the initiative to Jung ahead of the final showjumping rounds.

Collett had one fence down and a time penalty of 0.80 in the first team round, dropping her to her final position of third with a score of 23.10.

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