THE defending Olympic champion Julia Krajewski has been called up to the German eventing team following the withdrawal of Sandra Auffarth. Auffarth’s horse Viamant Du Matz was not considered fit to compete after “a small uncertainty” at the final internal vet check.

In a statement, Auffarth said: “I was really looking forward to taking part in my fourth Olympic Games, but it didn’t work out. Mat has developed really well over the last few years and, after our bronze medal at the European Championships last year, I was sure that we could put in a good performance in Paris.

“A small uncertainty at the last internal veterinary inspection prevented us from doing so. Mat’s well-being is my top priority and therefore we will not be representing the German colours in Paris. I wish all the horses and riders a great time and keep my fingers crossed for my friends!”

Krajewski will now have a chance to defend the title she won three years ago in Tokyo, however she rides the inexperienced 10-year-old gelding Nickel 21. Despite not being on the list of top tier combinations for Paris, they earned their spot as the P Alternate after winning the CCI4*-S at Aachen in style earlier this month.

The first-ever female Olympic eventing champion, Krajewski commented: “First of all, I feel very sorry for Sandra and her team as this is heartbreaking and tough to handle. She has been a stalwart of the German team for years, we’ve done many championships together and she’s always been the ultimate team player!

“My personal approach for the coming week changes from being ready to potentially step in to being ready to actually deliver. Nickel feels great and I have the utmost trust in him to step onto the big stage and do Germany proud.”

Twenty-three-year-old Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom Of The Opera, who were second at Aachen, have been named as the new alternate combination. He will be the youngest rider at the Games.

Halliday in for USA

USA’s Will Coleman’s has been ruled out of the eventing competition. His original horse, the Peter Brady-bred Irish Sport Horse Off The Record (VDL Arkansas x Ard Ohio), was replaced by his direct reserve horse Diabolo who was found to have an foot abscess just before the trot up.

Coleman has been replaced by Liz Halliday and the Irish Sport Horse Cooley Nutcracker (Tolan R x Cobra), bred by Gary Doherty. It is a first Olympics for Halliday. Sydney Elliott and QC Diamantaire will now move into the team’s travelling reserve position and joined the team at the venue in time for Friday’s trot-up.

The eventing competition begins today (Saturday) with dressage, followed by cross-country on Sunday and the final show jumping on Monday.

RTÉ will broadcast the cross-country and show jumping action from the eventing competition in Paris, commentated on by The Irish Field’s Brendan McArdle, alongside Cameron Hanley and analyst Lt Col Tom Freyne. BBC will also broadcast part of the equestrian action. However, every minute of the action belongs to Eurosport and will be streamed on Discovery+. A subscription to Discovery+ costs €6.99 per month and lets you tune in on a wide range of devices.