Paris 2024: Glory years recalled after tough Versailles test in individual show jumping final

In its heyday on TV in the 1970s and 1980s, show jumping was big. Helped by a greater number of colour sets and stars like Harvey Smith, David Broome, Eddie Macken and Paul Darragh, along with coverage of the Horse of the Year Show and the Dublin Horse Show, the sport was very much mainstream.

The first week in August at the RDS culminated with the Aga Khan Cup or the Nations Cup, as some like to call it. It will always be the 'Aga Khan' to most. Ireland completed a hat-trick of wins in 1979; for those of us young enough to remember, it was compulsive viewing. For close to three hours, we were enthralled.

Eddie Macken was usually the last of the Irish riders to go; the nation, even before it held its breath at Italia '90, had to hold it for 40 seconds or so as Macken set out to plot a clear round. And that he would do.

RTÉ used to the cover the World Championships back then; I seem to recall that the event was always held in the German city of Aachen. Obviously it wasn't, but for me Aachen was synonymous with showjumping. So too was the late Brian McSharry, who for many years was behind the mic for RTÉ. On BBC we had the plummy voices of Dorian Williams and Raymond Brooks-Ward.

Time moves on and show jumping on the telly began to lose its popularity; the BBC stopped showing the Horse of the Year Show, while RTÉ's coverage of Dublin in August is now cut back to three days, though the Aga Khan still holds pride of place.

Horse Sport Ireland is the governing body for all equestrian sport for Ireland, with showjumping, eventing, dressage, some of the sports that it administers. It is recognised by the Irish Sports Council, and the Olympic Federation of Ireland.

In the Olympics, Ireland has only won one medal, Cian O'Connor taking