Equestrian-Germany's Jung wins eventing as Australian underdog steals show

VERSAILLES, France : German eventing rider Michael Jung won his fourth Olympic gold medal on Monday after beating his main challengers Christopher Burton from Australia and Briton Laura Collett in the final showjumping contest.

Jung, riding on his bay Hannover gelding Chipmunk, won the three-day competition combining dressage, cross-country and showjumping with a final score of 21.8 penalty points, ahead of Burton with 22.4 and Collett with 23.1.

Securing his third individual Olympics win after London 2012 and Rio 2016, Jung managed to follow up on an outstanding dressage score on Saturday with a flawless and perfectly timed cross-country ride and two solid jumping performances the two following days.

The Versailles medal was the first Jung has won with Chipmunk, a horse the Bavarian took over in 2019 from fellow German Olympian Julia Krajewski with the help of his financial backers.

Jung had said he would "coddle and pamper" his partner ahead of the jumping final with a good portion of carrots.

While Jung was seen as one of the main favourites for the title, Australian underdog Burton, ranked 151 internationally, shocked the crowd beating most of the sport's heavyweights on Shadow Man, a horse with no notable track record.

The silver medal was his first individual Olympic medal, after winning team bronze in Rio 2016.

Briton Collett on Saturday had set a new Olympic eventing dressage record with London 52 who she said was the horse of her lifetime, but failed to defend the top spot throughout the competition.