Christian Kukuk Wins Jumping Gold at Paris 2024
Germany’s Christian Kukuk is the new Olympic Jumping champion having secured gold on a thrilling final day of equestrian competition at Paris 2024. London 2012 winner Guerdat won silver while Van der Vleuten took bronze, just as he did at Tokyo 2020 and the 2022 FEI World Championship.
The 34-year-old and Checker 47 prevailed in a three-athlete jump-off that also featured Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat & Dynamix De Belheme and The Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten & Beauville Z.
Only three horse-and-rider combinations cleared the massive 15-fence first-round course designed by Spain’s Santiago Varela and Gregory Bodo from France and, first to go against the clock, 34-year-old Kukuk threw down another superb clear round to set the target at 38.34 seconds.
Tokyo 2020 individual bronze medallists Maikel van der Veuten and Beauville Z from The Netherlands followed with a fence down in 39.12, so it was left to the 2012 Olympic Champion Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat and his mare Dynamix de Belheme, to challenge the German leader for the title.
But a pole down at the penultimate vertical in 38.38 seconds saw him having to settle for silver ahead of van der Vleuten who took bronze once again. This was Germany’s sixth time to take Individual Olympic Jumping gold.
