British Equestrian Interviews
This summer sees the best equestrian athletes in the world descend on the French capital for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The British Olympic Association (BOA) has today (26th June 20204) announced the three squads of riders who will travel to France this summer to represent Team GB in the equestrian competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The squad of four representing dressage offers a mix of experience and young talent with Carl Hester set to compete in his seventh Games while his protégé Charlotte Dujardin will be hoping to become Britain’s most decorated female Olympian, should she claim a medal in Paris of any colour. Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Fry will be looking to build on her Tokyo experience and is reigning World Champion, whilst Becky Moody will look to make her Games debut.
Team GB’s eventing team will be looking to defend their Olympic title from Tokyo, a first since 1972, and two members of that squad, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen, have been named in the foursome. Ros Canter, who was the travelling reserve for Tokyo 2020, will be hoping for a first Olympic competition appearance, as will reigning World Champion Yasmin Ingham from the Isle of Man.
Paris 2024 will be a fifth Olympic Games for current Olympic individual jumping champion, Ben Maher, and he is joined by Tokyo 2020 Olympians Scott Brash and Harry Charles. Debutant of the group is Joe Stockdale, whose father Tim represented Team GB at Beijing in 2008.
Rider and horse combinations will be submitted by July 8 to Paris 2024 as part of the Sport Entry process for the Games.
British Equestrian Interviews
Mari Durward-Akhurst - ParalympicsGB announces para equestrian squad for Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
Mari Durward-Akhurst (Grade 1) will make her Paralympic Games debut in Paris. Previously a team silver medallist at the FEI Para Dressage European Championship in 2019, she now partners experienced horse Athene Lindebjerg, who contested Rio 2016 with Sophie Christiansen to win triple gold.
Durward-Akhurst, who in June became the world number one ranked athlete across all five para dressage grades, said: “I am so incredibly excited to have been selected for my first Paralympics – it’s a dream come true. I’m honoured to be riding Diane Redfern’s Athene and look forward to us competing together on the world’s biggest stage. I can’t thank everybody enough who has got us to this point.”
Full Press Release 18th July 2024
A total of around 220 athletes from 19 sports are expected to make up the British team that will compete in Paris, with further names to be announced by ParalympicsGB in the coming days. At Tokyo 2020, ParalympicsGB won medals across a record breaking 18 different sports – the highest number of any nation ever. ParalympicsGB finished second on the medal table with 124 medals overall, including 41 gold, 38 silver and 45 bronze.
The para equestrian competition will take place from 3–7 September in the scenic grounds of the Château de Versailles, just outside of Paris.