Ben Maher knows something about perfect matches. In Explosion W, the 12-year-old chestnut gelding with whom he won a sensational individual showjumping gold here in Tokyo, he found the ideal companion for the journey to the very top of his professional sphere.
“I’ve had many good horses in my career, but I won’t ride another one like him,” the 38-year-old from Enfield said, after a faultless round of 37.85sec enabled him to win a six-rider jump-off from Peder Fredricson, of Sweden. “He’s just such an intelligent horse, a fun horse to be around. And he’s a real athlete, he’s not a normal horse.
“All the nerves that I had coming from the hotel today and things going on in my mind, actually, when I get to the gate, and I go in, it kind of all goes away. I jump fence one and something clicks — he just fills me with confidence.”
The Maher gold was Team GB’s fifth equestrian medal of the Games, equalling their best performance, which came at London 2012. There is still the team showjumping to come, with qualifying taking place tomorrow. Maher will again be at the forefront, just as he was nine years ago when the British quartet finished top.
This, though, was his crowning glory, a brilliant achievement that far surpassed the two European Championship silvers he had previously won in the event. His three previous Olympic appearances in the individual event had brought finishes of 19th, 9th and 25th.
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And yet, it really ought not to be the highlight of his summer, not when he is set to marry Sophie, his fiancée, in a fortnight’s time in Hertfordshire. “I’ll put this one away,” he promised. “It did cross my mind that we’re having a smaller wedding at home with close friends and family. And it crossed my mind that it’d be a very good party if something went right this week.”
Maher’s Olympic preparations have meant that he has been able to play only a minor part in the nuptial planning. At least that is his story and he is sticking to it. “I managed to get an hour out to go and get my suit, so I made sure of that,” he said. “And I did do half a day with Sophie to try and be a bit involved.”
He made a call home immediately after his win, and even if he “couldn’t really hear them” because “there were so many people screaming”, he was quick to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to those who got him here — Maher’s equine chum, first and foremost, but also people such as Cormac Kenny, his groom, who came from Ireland to work with him when he was only 16. Kenny was one of many who supported him last year in his recovery from back surgery after a couple of serious falls.
“I don’t think my career was ever in jeopardy,” Maher said. “I was two days a week in the gym for nearly 12 weeks with a guy called Ed in America. It’s not typical for our sport to be working out and really trying to retrain the muscles because I was unable to walk and put shoes on and do normal everyday things.”
Not that you would have known it from his demeanour, but there were, apparently, a few awkward moments immediately before the jump-off.
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“I thought by being the fastest qualifier [on Tuesday], if I could jump a clear round, I would be last in the jump-off [instead of fourth], and it threw me off a little bit,” he said.
“I really wanted to be in a position to know exactly what I had to do.
“I don’t know what was more pressure: this or getting married in two weeks. But yeah, there’s so many people who have contributed to making this possible. And hopefully we’ll get home and have a good celebration.” Maher promised to revisit the same pub where he celebrated team gold in 2012.
There was heartbreak here for another member of that quartet from London, Scott Brash, who rode a second clear round in two days on Jefferson but finished 0.45sec outside the permitted time of 88sec and so received a one-point penalty, which was enough to deny him a place in the jump-off.
Harry Charles, the 22-year-old son of Peter, who, on Vindicat, was part of the London team gold, retired Romeo 88 having taken down three fences.
