A summer of dreams, the best selfies ever and an unmatched feat – equestrian sport at the Paris Olympics

A summer of dreams, the best selfies ever taken and a feat unmatched in British sport.

This was the summing up of the equestrian Paris Olympics and Paralympics last summer, by the person who orchestrated the phenomenal teamwork that led to the success.

British Equestrian performance director Helen Nicholls spoke at the National Equine Forum on 6 March, to review Britain’s performance at the 2024 Games.

“I promised last year when we did this presentation that I would come back, good, bad or ugly, and do a post mortem,” she said.

“I’ve got 10 minutes to take you through what was a year of work and a summer of dreams. I probably need about an hour, a bottle of wine and a therapist! But I’ll do my best.”

Ms Nicholls said the team had achieved its dreams, above and beyond what could have been predicted.

“We earned five medals, including two gold, and seven medals from nine events in the Paralympics,” she said. “Every single rider we took to the Olympic and Paralympic Games came back with a medal, a feat unrivalled in British sport.

“That’s not to say it was all plain sailing – far from it – but the mission was well and truly achieved – and resulted in some of the best selfies of all time.”

Ms Nicholls, who added that the showjumpers’ team selfie with the Eiffel Tower in the background was sent at about 3am, asked how success is measured, and that had things gone slightly awry on the day, especially with the three-rider, no drop score format, the results could have been very different.

But, she said, medal-winning is just one part of the World Class programme, which is about finding, preparing and supporting the best riders and horses in the country, to get results and retain expertise to boost the chances of success.

She explained that the “magic” of the programme is taking the number of professionals, in everything from nutrition to research, and “bringing all those together in the right way, in a prioritised order, and you can transform it into something superhuman”.

“There are many nations around the world that have the expertise we have,” she said. “They’ve got brilliant coaches, farriers, saddlers, riders, but ultimately, for us, it’s about how we bring them together.

A unique system

“What we have that’s really special is the system no other country has. In 1997, National Lottery funding from John Major started what we now know as the World Class programme, and that was driven basically on the back of the Atlanta Games, and very poor achievements by Great Britain. It takes National Lottery funding and puts it into delivering results and winning and making the nation proud.

“And that program still runs today, still does exactly the same thing. It’s solely focused on making the nation proud and winning levels. We don’t get involved in running events, we don’t train volunteers, we don’t measure ponies, we don’t try to solve all the problems of the world and other sports. But what we do do is try to run a package of support for each of the riders that increases their chances of being successful. It’s a hugely privileged position, and one of great responsibility, and one me and my team take incredibly seriously.”

Ms Nicholls said the key is that the funding is “mutual money”, the only purpose of which is to deliver results, rather than from private benefactors, which may not always have the desired impact on performance.

“It’s really rare to find mutual funding, and it’s our biggest weapon, so please keep buying lottery tickets! It really makes a difference, and it really, really matters.”

Ms Nicholls also cited Britain’s selection policies, which are a “balance of the objective, the subjective, the art and the science and blending that together”, rather than selecting based on one qualifier. Other nations do the latter, she said, which can help us as they “lose control” over the selection.

“I think the proudest moment I had at the Games was when I saw the teams, and I was really, really confident we had exactly the right people on the right horses at the right time,” she said.

Paralympic success

In para dressage, Ms Nicholls referenced Britain’s success in winning seven individual medals from nine events. This was the first time Britain had not won Paralympic team gold since the sport was introduced, but Ms Nicholls said it is not healthy for any sport if the same country wins gold at every Games.

“One of the things I am proud of is the fact that Great Britain is still playing right at the top of the medal table in an evolving world of that sport,’ she said. “We have lots of thinking to do, about how we keep the horsepower, select athletes, etc, but it is evolving and we’re looking at LA in terms of how we should take that on board.”

Ms Nicholls said one huge positive was how relevant equestrianism was at a modern Olympics, citing the park at Versailles on cross-country day, or the atmosphere when the showjumpers were accepting their medals.

“It was absolutely relevant to the Games,” she said. “Equestrian was the second sport to sell out tickets, and the global audience was massive. Sometimes I think our harshest critics are within our sport and to the external world, it really, really mattered and it was really relevant.”

Of course the start to the Games, as Charlotte Dujardin was suspended just beforehand, was very difficult.

“People ask about it, and my overwhelming reflection was sadness,” she said. “It was sad for everybody involved, sad for the horse involved, sad for the sport. But my overwhelming impression was that it was really, really sad for the athletes who were preparing to deliver their best on the world stage at that time. It was sad that when they went to the mixed zone, the first question they were asked was about that matter, rather than their performances.

A huge thank you

“At this point I’d just say a huge thank you to everybody in the equestrian media for asking those questions, but asking them in a responsible and a caring manner, which really helped us. It was interesting to see some of the media outlets that never pay any attention turned up in Versailles on those days, and they thought they were going to get to the front of the queue in the mixed zone. But I can tell you the equestrian media have got sharp elbows!

“Thank you very much to equestrian sport as a whole. I think when times get tough, you find out who your friends are, and the team can fall apart and splinter, or they can pull together and deliver. We have four amazing performance managers in Dickie Waygood, Caroline Griffith, Di Lampard and George Sharples. And they were not going to leave Paris without delivering those medals.”

Ms Nicholls paid tribute to the whole team who made the success possible, and pointed out that despite a perception that equestrian sport is elite, “that’s not true”. Of our nine Olmpic riders, only three went to private schools.

“It’s a long, long journey, it’s not a quick win and a lot of credit and success when we come home with medals belongs to the sport,” she said.

“Ultimately, our athletes are ordinary human beings doing extraordinary things. They have their own flaws and failings, just like all of us, they have fears and hopes and dreams. The early mornings, the falls, the disappointments and the challenges they face. Three weeks before Paris, on a Saturday morning, I was in Portsmouth hospital with Harry Charles with his arm in a cast to his shoulder, waiting for one of the best surgeons in the world to come and do an assessment on whether his arm was going to actually be ok. That’s when you see what it takes to be a champion and how much is invested, but also how much they have to lose.”

Incredible reserves

Ms Nicholl also praised the reserve riders, Yasmin Ingham, Joe Stockdale and Andrew Gould, who never got to ride but were with the teams throughout, helping at every step, which was “incredible to watch”.

“What human beings they are; they’re special,” she said. And she added that Paris might not long be over but the team has eyes on the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

“I was in LA last week,” she said. “It’s busy, it’s hot, it’s expensive, and it’s only three and a bit years to go,” she said. “So we’ve got some challenges. But we know we left some medals behind in Paris, and we know we can sharpen up in some areas. So my promise to you is that in four years’ time, I will come back again, good, bad or ugly. Our commitment is that we will set even higher goals – see you in four years’ time.”

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