Chris Burton has ridden to an unexpected individual eventing silver for Australia at Chateau de Versailles — on a loaned British horse he’s only been riding for five months.
The 42-year-old Queenslander had ditched his show jumping speciality for another shot at eventing this year, and his switch paid off handsomely as he expressed his disbelief at steering new partner Shadow Man to second place.
Toowoomba’s Burton, now based in the UK, was third overnight after the dressage and cross country but moved into the silver position after Monday morning’s show jumping qualifying round when they had a clear round fractionally outside the time limit.
Then on a blazingly hot afternoon against the majestic backdrop of the Chateau, the fledgling combination cleared all 12 fences in the finale.
It put Burton in sight of Australia’s first individual eventing triumph since Matt Ryan on Kibah Tic Toc in Barcelona 1992, as he knew 41-year-old German great Jung, on Chipmunk FRH, was under the ultimate pressure.
‘I’m not gonna lie. I thought we had him there for a second,’ smiled Burton, saluting the four-time champion Jung, who became the first man to win three individual eventing golds.
‘But I just gave a cheeky interview on German television. I said ‘Mickey, I’ve hated you for so long, but you’re the greatest of all-time, mate’. He’s amazing. So there’s no shame in coming second behind that bloke.
‘Watching his round, it’s a funny thing. The Germans call it schadenfreude, it’s a lovely term. You sort of want to watch, but then you want to enjoy the moment – and it’s a little bit tearing … I honestly can’t believe it.’
Christopher Burton (left) was denied a fairytale gold medal at the Olympic Games
The Australian underdog thought he had done enough to win gold in the eventing
But he was denied by Michael Jung, with the German winning his fourth Olympic gold
Jung prevailed on 21.80 penalty points, 0.60 clear of Burton. Laura Collett, who’d earlier led Britain to the team title, finished third on 23.10.
Remarkably, Burton and Shadow Man only had their first competition in March, after owner and rider Ben Hobday – believing he had no chance of making the Olympics himself amid huge UK competition – loaned the horse for six months to his pal in a rare display of equestrian ‘Ashes’ co-operation.
Burton, who’d won team bronze in Rio eight years ago, had moved into show jumping but decided on one more crack at eventing with the gift horse that Hobday convinced him was ‘the best in the world’.
‘I took a little break from eventing, so it’s really nice to come back and have this happen. Just right now, I can’t help but think I’m a lucky man,’ said the popular figure known to his teammates as ‘Burto’.
The loan idea was first discussed in January, with Burton admitting wife Bek wasn’t happy about a return to the treacherous eventing world.
‘Bear in mind, I had a wife very cross with me for putting her through all of this. I joke about that, but she’s been amazing. She made it happen,’ explained Burton, who reckoned Bek had assembled the whirlwind, global program that enabled him to qualify.
As for Shadow Man? ‘An amazing horse to ride. Isn’t he a machine? Isn’t he a delight? He just springs off the ground, he’s got scope and he’s got care and he’s a pleasure,’ beamed Burton.
‘I spotted him years ago. I always knew he was that good. We just tried twice to buy him and Ben was too much in love with him to sell him – and I can understand it.
‘And I can’t believe I’ve had this chance. And I can’t believe what a fun time we’ve had in Paris.
‘I’m over the moon. We’ve had just everything go right for us this week. We’re going to sleep well tonight.’
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