Equestrian-Britain win eventing team gold as France pay for jumping errors

VERSAILLES, France :British eventing riders Ros Canter, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen won team gold on Monday after solid rides in the show-jumping final as France had to settle for silver in front of a euphoric home crowd due to too many glitches.

The team gold medal, Britain's fifth, makes them the most-winning eventing nation in Olympic history, ahead of Germany and Australia with four medals.

The British team ended the three-day competition with a combined score of 91.3 penalty points ahead of France with 103.6 and Japan with 115.8.

Britain were the clear favourite for gold after Germany dropped out of the race when one of their riders fell.

But the team's nerves were tested when Canter was handed additional penalty points for missing an obstacle during her cross-country ride on Sunday, putting France within reach of the sensation of winning gold at their own Games.

"We would have liked a little bit more leeway, but we are very good jumpers and we're such a team that we just knew if we stayed calm, bent to the process and rode every stride, we'd be alright," Collett said after sealing the victory for her team on London 52.

Jumping in a packed arena in the chateau gardens of Versailles, many riders said the loud crowd was challenging, especially for younger horses that had gained no such experience over the past years marked by the COVID pandemic.

French rider Nicolas Touzaint, who got 8 penalty points with his horse Diabolo Menthe, said he was disappointed.

"We had nicely calculated everything ... But the horse gets sloppy twice on two verticals at the end of the course. That's the only explanation I have for now," he told journalists.

His teammate Stephane Landois, who made his Olympic debut on grey gelding Chaman