Isle of Man eventing star Yasmin Ingham has admitted it’s been tough acting as reserve for Great Britain’s gold-medal winning event team, but is already looking ahead to the next Olympics.
The 27 year old Manxwoman and her horse Banzai du Louir were reserves or the ‘alternate combination’ for the squad that won Britain’s first gold of the Paris games on Monday. The pair were on standby all weekend in case the team of Laura Collett, Ros Canter and Tom McEwan needed a substitute, but the trio and their respective horses emerged unscathed from three hard days of competition involving, dressage, cross-country and showjumping.
The reigning world champion admitted that although she felt ‘very lucky and very proud’ to have been at the Games, it had been tough watching from the side-lines.
Posting on social media on Tuesday, Yasmin said: ‘My position of the “alternate combination” has been tough without doubt.
‘To be in touching distance of my life-long dream is very difficult to process, but I have gained so much experience from my first taste of an Olympic Games and coming out of the last few days have made me even hungrier for Los Angeles 2028.
Prior to the weekend, Yasmin had spoken about her pride at being selected for the team: ‘I just feel very, very lucky to be in this position and very proud as well to be coming from the Isle of Man, as it’s a small island with a heap of talent.
‘There’s been so many incredible sports people come out of the Isle of Man who have been very, very successful - and I feel very proud that I can say that I’m one of those people to represent the Isle of Man on a biggest stage, which is really special to me.’
Yasmin also placed on record her thanks for the support she has received while out in France from the island and further afield.
She added: ‘Thank you so much to everyone for their support this week, both here and back at home - it is so massively appreciated.’
The team’s victory, with a score of 91.3, was a record-breaking fifth for Great Britain and means the team has now reached the podium at six of the past seven Games, including gold last time out in Tokyo. Hosts France took the silver and Japan the bronze.
Ros Canter also claimed bronze in the individual event.