British rider Collett sets Olympic eventing record at Paris Games with best dressage score

VERSAILLES, France (AP) — British rider Laura Collett set an Olympic eventing record at the Paris Games with the best dressage score on Saturday.

Collett led the way on London 52 with only 17.50 penalty points to earn 82.503 percent in her dressage test.

“I loved every second of it. That horse is unbelievable,” the 34-year-old Collett said. “What he’s done throughout my whole career is amazing, and he just keeps on delivering it. So I’m just very, very grateful to him.”

The record had been held by American David O’Connor, who scored 19.3 at Sydney 2000.

O’Connor is now chief of sport for the United States Equestrian Federation and he told the Associated Press that “records are made to be broken.”

Great Britain took the lead in team eventing and also set an Olympic record with a cumulative score of 66.60 points to break Australia’s record of 68.70 from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Collett almost died in a fall while competing in 2013. She was resuscitated five times and suffered a fractured shoulder, two broken ribs, a punctured lung, a lacerated liver and kidney damage.

She recovered from those injuries to win gold in team eventing the Tokyo Games, also on London 52.

Even after three-time gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin withdrew this week after video emerged of her repeatedly whipping a horse, the British team is in a strong position for a repeat success here with Tokyo teammate Tom McEwen also on the team.

“Myself and Tom were lucky to get that feeling of what it’s like standing on a podium with a gold medal around our necks, and we sure want to do it again,” Collett said. “So we’re very lucky. Yes, there’s a lot of pressure and expectations. But pressure is a privilege.”

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games