Manx equestrian star Yasmin Ingham has been selected as one of four riders set to represent Great Britain at next month’s Paris Olympic Games.
It was announced earlier this week that the 27-year-old reigning eventing world champion and her championship winning mount Banzai Du Loir will be part of the British squad.
Banzai is owned by former Isle of Man resident, the late Sue Davies who had set up a fund in her name before her death to continue to support her horses competing at the top level of the sport.
In the summer of 2022, one of Sue’s dreams came true when she was there in person to witness Yasmin and Banzai becoming world champions when they won individual gold in Pratoni, Italy.
Sue sadly died earlier last year and it was a dream of hers, and her late husband Eddie, to have a horse competing at the Olympics.
Banzai was purchased by them in 2019 with the aim of him being the horse to take Ingham to the Olympics. He is co-owned by Sue’s daughter, Janette Chinn.
With 12 horse and rider combinations on the longlist for the British team, selection for this year’s squad has been incredibly close for all concerned.
In April, Ingham finished third at the Defender Kentucky Horse Trials in Lexington, USA. The lightest touch of a pole in the show jumping costing them the win, but Ingham was not going to rely on just that result being enough to secure her a spot on the team.
Instead, she opted to head to Luhmuhlen, Germany in early June with both her longlisted horses – Banzai and his stable mate Rehy DJ – to contest the 4* Short and 5* Long on each horse respectively.
A number of the British longlisted riders, along with an abundance of other longlisted competitors from other countries, were using Luhmuhlen as a final chance to impress their countries selectors.
A total of 67 competitors started the German event with pre-event favourites Michael Jung of Germany leading the way after dressage.
But it was an event that favoured the Brits, with Ingham taking the win and fellow squad member Tom McEwen (JL Dublin) taking second place.
The four riders selected for Team GB are: Ingham, Rosalind Canter, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen.
Only three riders will actually get to start the event and those three will not be announced until a later date. The fourth person then becomes a substitute reserve should they be needed for any reason.
The eventing will start on July 27 with dressage, followed by cross-country on the Sunday and then two rounds of show jumping on Monday, July 29.
The first round counts towards the team medals, while the second round (all scores are carried forward) will decide who becomes the 2024 Olympic champion.
BY JESS COLLISTER