Equestrian Fouaad Mirza beats Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Julia Krajewski to win gold medal in Poland
Fouaad was astride Dajara 4 and competed in eventing. He scored 30.100 in dressage and had clean cross country and show jumping rounds with no penalties.
Indian equestrian Fouaad Mirza won the gold medal in eventing at the Strzegom Standard Show 2024 in Poland, finishing ahead of Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Julia Krajewski on Tuesday.
Eventing is an equestrian competition that tests the horse and the rider across three disciplines - dressage, cross country and show jumping.
Astride his horse Dajara 4 of the Holsteiner breed, the 32-year-old Fouaad claimed the gold medal with an overall score of 30.100 penalties - all scored in dressage, which involves a series of predetermined movements.
The two-time Asian Games silver medallist had clean cross country and show jumping rounds with zero penalties for obstacles and time.
The overall winner in eventing is the horse and rider with the fewest total penalties across all three phases.
Tokyo 2020 winner Julia Krajewski, riding Ero De Cantraie, came in second with a total score of 34.600. Her dressage performance was close to Mirza’s, earning her 31.000 penalties. However, 3.600 penalties for time in the cross country pushed her down the leaderboard.
In third place, Malin Asai on Maggan V finished with a total score of 35.000. Asai scored 33.800 in dressage and picked up 1.200 penalties in the cross country due to time.
The Strzegom Standard Show 2024 was a CCI3*-S level event, with 1* being the lowest and 5* being the highest per the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) specifications.
At Tokyo 2020, Mirza, riding his horse Seigneur Medicott, became the first Indian equestrian to compete at the Olympics since Sydney 2000. He finished 23rd in eventing with a score of 59.60 penalty points. Fouaad missed the cut for the Paris 2024 Olympics.