Olympedia – Individual, Open

There were 48 competitors from 12 nations. With the event now open to women, there was one female, Lana Dupont of the United States, who placed 33rd of the 34 finishers. In the dressage German Fritz Ligges took the lead over Britain’s Ben Jones and Argentina’s Carlos Moratorio. The endurance phase was a combination of roads, cross-country, and steeplechase over 32.7 km. It was considered to be quite easy but was held on a day which was quite cold, with heavy rain and fog. Three riders finished the course with perfect 118.40 scores – Australian Brien Cobcroft, Britain’s Richard Meade, and Italy’s Mauro Checcoli. After two phases this put Meade into the lead, followed by Checcoli, Ligges, and Moratorio.

The jumping saw 11 riders with clean rides, including Checcoli’s, whose perfect scores in endurance and jumping brought him the gold medal. Moratorio was also clean in jumping to move up to the silver medal, while Ligges won bronze. Meade struggled in jumping with 36 faults and dropped back to eighth place. He would improve and win the eventing gold medal at München in 1972.