INCROYABLE is how I would describe the Chateau de Versailles, home of equestrian sports at the Paris Olympic Games. It is well removed from the hustle and bustle of the capital city, to the point where, when you are walking around Versailles, you would not even know the Games were on, bar the odd familiar face, but it seems like the perfect place for the horse sport to take place, within the confines of the world heritage site park.

The Games started with a lot of rain, which has most definitely left us for the scorching hot temperatures of 35 degrees. The eventing was a roller-coaster from start to finish and it felt like a fitting ending for Britain to get its record fifth gold medal and win a second consecutive Olympic Games. They were by far the standout team, pretty flawless in each discipline.

For German legend Michael Jung, it was redemption after ‘losing’ the last few championships with Chipmunk and so he also made history, becoming the first ever three-time Olympic eventing champion. You can read extensive eventing reports on pages 84-86.

The cross-country course was breathtaking from start to finish and attracted almost 50,000 spectators, while Santiago Varela and Gregory Bodo have designed the most spectacular show jumping fences I have ever laid eyes on. With a nod to all things French, fences ranged from an urban graffiti designed wall, to the confectionery double with macarons as the wings, the Champs-Élysées and the Eiffel Tower. The media got a guided course walk with Varela on Friday mornig, a real highlight.

Olympic movement

The Olympics is truly a movement and no one summed up what it feels like to get to the Games more than Ireland’s sole dressage rider, Abigail Lyle. Abi’s interviews on BBC and RTÉ have been shared far and wide, because she has a personality that captures people’s attention, and she is just what this sport needs, a perfect ambassador.

She is vulnerable in how she tells her story and had us all feeling proud and emotional after her test, explaining the highs and lows that the week brought.

There is no doubt that these Games have been affected by horse welfare issues, stemming primarily from the video of Charlotte Dujardin whipping a horse’s legs that surfaced a few days before the Games began. Abi summed it up when commenting she felt there was a “cloud” over the sport and needed to protect her own mind from that difficult aspect of the lead-up.

More so than any championship I have ever been to, this week there is a big focus on the welfare of the horses – particularly in dressage – and the bad publicity it has recently received. It is more important than ever that the sport presents good pictures to the world, if it wants to stay in this incredible Olympic movement.