Swiss eventers narrowly miss out on two medals

The question was on everyone's lips after the final day of eventing. Felix Vogg had to answer it. Lost a medal or won two diplomas? "I'm not really looking at the medals," said Vogg, an ambitious athlete. "I'm thinking more about the medal, that's what it's all about."

The Swiss team went into the final day in the lead. After the dressage and cross-country, they went into the decisive show jumping competition in fourth place - or so they thought. As one of the Japanese horses did not pass the veterinary test and the team was therefore awarded 20 penalty points, the Swiss team with Mélody Johner on Toubleu de Rueire, Robin Godel with Grandeur de Lully and Felix Vogg in the saddle on Dao de l'Ocean were in a virtual bronze medal position.

Johner and Godel with too many faults

However, Johner and Godel accumulated more than 20 points between them, while the Japanese remained faultless, meaning that the medal was already out of reach before Vogg's final ride. However, a knockdown by the German-born rider also dropped him down the individual rankings, from 4th to 6th place.

With another fault in the individual final, he lost two more places, resulting in the aforementioned two diplomas instead of one or two medals for the team (5th) and Vogg (8th).

The disappointment with the team also made it difficult for Vogg to prepare for the final. "In Tokyo, there was more time between the two decisions," he noted. "Dao didn't do anything wrong, I can't blame him," he said of the eleven-year-old gelding. "In the end, I believe that a mistake like that happens because he doesn't have the strength yet and can't iron out and correct all the little things."

Confident about the future

The 34-year-old Vogg is definitely confident about the future. "We want to keep working in the same way, and then the medal will come at some point."

In the Concours Complet, formerly known as the Military, Switzerland has been waiting a long time for a sense of achievement. In Rome in 1960, the team won silver and Anton Bühler won bronze on Gay Spark in the individual competition.