Team GB defend Olympic eventing crown for first gold at Paris 2024

• Hosts France finish with silver; Japan take bronze
• GB’s Laura Collett also takes individual bronze

When Laura Collett was flung from her horse and then trapped by the full force of its weight on top of her in 2013, doctors were not sure she would pull through. She was resuscitated five times then placed in an induced coma for six days. Her injuries included a ­lacerated liver, damage to her kidneys, a fractured shoulder, a punctured lung and ­broken ribs. A fragment of her ­shoulder bone travelled to her eye through her blood stream, leaving her blind on her right side.

Extraordinary, then, that on Monday she was part of a team that retained their Olympic team eventing title at the Paris 2024 Games, Team GB’s first gold of the 33rd Olympiad. And there was further rapture from British fans as she followed team gold with bronze in the individual competition in the opulent grounds of the Chateau de Versailles.