French show jumping team bronze medal

Simon Delestre, Julien Epaillard and Olivier Perreau, riders of the French show jumping team, won the bronze medal on Friday in Versailles.

A setting like the Palace of Versailles and its gardens could only have a happy outcome for the French riders. After the silver of the French eventing team, it was the show jumpers, Simon Delestre, Julien Epaillard and Olivier Perreau, who offered France a bronze trinket. Great Britain, led by a trio of Avengers, took gold, and it was the Americans who finished second.

The cathedral silence of these stands – where only the noise of the horses’ efforts resonated – gave way to an explosion of joy from the Versailles spectators at the end of Julien Epaillard’s passage. The last French rider to set off concluded a four-point course, which still allowed the Blues to retain the bronze.

Simon Delestre, as opener, managed to overcome all the difficulties of this course designed by the Frenchman Gregory Bodo and the Spaniard Santiago Varela. Inspired by his teammate, Olivier Perreau, who joined the team after Kevin Staut withdrew, signed a perfect course.

History is repeating itself a bit. In 2016, in Rio, Simon Delestre had to give up his place to Philippe Rozier after his horse was injured, France had won the team gold medal.