And Skelton and the brilliant Big Star produced a flawless technical round when it mattered, posting a clear round first up in the jump-off to ultimately seal Britain’s 23rd gold medal of the Games. “She’s made it out here all the way to Rio and she’s been there the whole time supporting me”.
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The 58-year-old’s triumph takes Team GB’s gold medal tally up to 23 and the total medals won to 57, with 21 silver and 13 bronze.
Our oldest Olympian here, a veteran of seven Games, he was a popular victor for Team GB.
“I always knew in the back of my mind, if we could get him right, he could do this”.
Peder Fredricson SWE, silver: “I knew I was sitting on a very good horse coming to the Games – maybe I wasn’t expecting a medal but I was hoping for it!”
“But I did it the other way round in London, it didn’t pay off. Justice has been done for him today, and he deserves it”.
On Friday, he turned in his third clean round of the day on trusty steed Big Star to hold off the event’s past two gold medallists.
It’s been a long week for these horses and riders, and conquering a second big course in a single day is a tall order.
Thereafter, Skelton watched on as his rivals failed to match his performance and he was crowned the new Olympic champion when Eric Lamaze, the final rider in the competition, clipped the penultimate fence.
Skelton, in his seventh Olympics, went clear in both opening rounds on horse Big Star. Everyone has worked so hard to get this horse back on the road.
Skelton – whose two sons are establishing fine reputations in National Hunt racing – had a reputation as a hell-raiser when he was younger.
A protégé of respected trainer Ted Edgar from the age of 15, Skelton always struggled to accept his employer’s patronage, feeling the older man looked down on him. “At that point the hotel staff threw me out”.
“I started crying before the semi-final because I was just so nervous and felt so much pressure”.
But Skelton, who quit the sport in 2000 after breaking his neck, vowed: “I am not going to stop now”.
This will be his last Olympic Games, having first competed at Seoul in 1988. Lamaze hits his first pole of the games in the jump-off and that pole costs him the gold.
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Jonny said: “In training I’ve maybe been a little bit better than Alistair but maybe the short stuff suits me a bit more”.
