– It feels shameful and embarrassing. I have the best horse in the world who is in shape and everything is as it should be. It’s completely my fault, says a dejected von Eckermann to SVT Sport shortly after the incident.
– In a millisecond it’s over and I had a fantastic feeling, he jumped fantastically on the forward jump. When I landed I followed to the right but somehow he goes a little to the left and then I lost my balance and then he immediately wonders what’s going on up there, it’s such a sensitive horse. I would have stayed in the middle and led him, says von Eckermann about the incident.
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There was a shocked buzz in the audience outside Versailles when the world number one from two years ago had to leave the final under these circumstances. von Eckermann did not receive any results.
“You rarely see a rider miss like this from Henrik”
– Henrik reevaluates his decision very late, has thought a certain number of leaps and suddenly he changes his mind. He goes out of rhythm and it comes to a screeching halt, says SVT Sports expert Lotta Björe.
– It’s rare to see a rider miss like this from Henrik, I don’t even know if I’ve seen it in him before. He is desperate, of course, says Björe.
Henrik von Eckermann was beforehand one of the favorites to settle for the gold. Instead, he experienced one of the worst nightmares of his career.
von Eckermann was the only Swede in the final where 30 jumpers reached.
– It is King Edward’s last Olympics and that I stand in the way of that feels shameful, says von Eckermann.
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