IT is a most exciting prospect thinking of the exceptional sport show jumping fans are in for next week at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Among the biggest changes to the competition is that the individual final comes before the team competition even starts. A total of 74 athletes, 19 of them individuals, will begin in the competition next Tuesday, August 3rd.

The talking horses of the past two years have undoubtedly been Ben Maher’s Explosion W (Britain) and Martin Fuchs’ 2019 European champion Clooney 51 (Switzerland). Maher won the individual silver at the Europeans in Rotterdam, as well as team bronze to qualify Britain for these Games.

The 12-year-old gelding by Chacco-Blue has won a phenomenal record eight Global Champions Tour five-star Grands Prix since 2018, the most recent being in Stockholm last month, before he went on to win the huge five-star Grand Prix at Royal Windsor earlier this month.

They had a quiet 2020 but have roared back into gear in recent months. Explosion W is one of the most beautiful and athletic horses on the circuit and Maher is not shy about saying an individual gold medal is what he is going for, to add to him team gold from London in 2012.

Intense battle

Also on that podium in Windsor a few weeks back was the aforementioned Martin Fuchs and Clooney 51. Heading into last year’s Games, before the pandemic caused the postponement, the grey gelding would have been favourite for gold but he is now a year older at 15. He hadn’t shown his usual best form but clear rounds in two five-star Grands Prix of late is a reminder that he is not down and out. Fuchs has a string of top horses to choose from but still opted to travel Clooney to Tokyo which must mean something.

The third person on that Windsor podium, in second place, was London 2012 Olympic champion Steve Guerdat (Switzerland) with Venard de Cerisy, who won a five-star Grand Prix in St Tropez back in May. Guerdat, who may have chosen to bring his 2018 WEG bronze medallist Bianca to Tokyo before her untimely passing earlier this season, is one of the most competitive riders in the sport and never far from a podium.

In my own opinion, I feel any or all of the Irish riders could be near a podium finish in Tokyo. All three riders – Bertram Allen, Darragh Kenny and Cian O’Connor – are hugely competitive and experienced; Cian an Olympic medallist in London and a man for the big day.

On the other hand, knowing the team morale that Michael Blake instils, might they save their last bit of energy for the team finals? With two nine-year-olds on the team, they will have the fresh legs to deal with the four rounds of jumping. See more about Ireland’s team riders on the opposite page.

As mentioned in the team preview, the German squad looks among the strongest and the Daniel Deusser’s Killer Queen VDM has so much quality. She is a five-star winner and really impressed during the winter in Florida and at 11 years is nice and fresh.

Deusser’s teammate Christian Kukuk rides the incredible Mumbai, and Belgium’s Niels Bruynseels’ stunning Delux Van T & L is another to keep a close eye on.

Female champion

As in eventing, no female has ever won the individual Olympic gold medal in show jumping. Holly Smith is the first female athlete to compete for Britain in 45 years, since Debbie Johnsey (Montreal 1976). Smith is one of the most hard-working and inspiring athletes. 10 years ago, the 32-year-old had never jumped higher than 1.20m.

Her original choice for the Games would have been Hearts Destiny, who was part of the bronze medal-winning team at the 2019 Europeans, but he sadly died from a metabolic disease aged 11, so she takes Denver. While they may not be at the top of the podium individually, they will be a strong team player for Britain.

USA’s Laura Kraut was part of the gold medal-winning team at Beijing in 2008 and has every chance of emulating her partner Nick Skelton’s 2016 achievements of an individual medal in Tokyo with the 11-year-old gelding Baloutine who she only began riding in April.

They finished second in the Rolex Grand Prix of Rome recently, just ahead of teammate and Olympic debutante Jessica Springsteen who rides Don Juan Van De Donkhoeve for team USA in Tokyo.

Tokyo will be Malin Baryard-Johnsson’s fourth Olympic Games for Sweden and she has a team silver medal from Athens in 2004. Her mount, H&M Indiana, was double clear to help the Swedish team win in St Gallen last month.

Also worth a mention is three-time Olympian Edwina Tops-Alexander, who had a rocky road to Tokyo with the team falling apart at the last minute. She has finished in the top 10 on two occasions (Beijing and Rio).

Two former Olympic individual gold medallists will line out in jumping – the aforementioned Guerdat (2012) and former Ireland team manager Rodrigo Pessoa who took gold for Brazil in Athens in 2004.