Scott Brash admitted he had to pinch himself in amazement after claiming third in this year’s Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Lyon.
The Final in France consisted of three legs, held over four days, with the title going to the rider with the lowest number of points accumulated.
And that proved to be Germany’s Daniel Deusser on Cornet d’Amour after France’s Patrice Delaveau withdrew due to an injury to his horse and Olympic champion Steve Guerdat faltered.
Ludger Beerbaum claimed silver while Brash – who helped Team GB claim team jumping gold at London 2012 – collected bronze.
Heading into event Brash was not expected to medal, having finished 11th and sixth in the opening two rounds.
But after storming up the leaderboard on Ursula the Olympic gold medallist couldn’t believe his luck.
“If I knew before I came here that I would finish third I would have been very happy,” he said.
“On the first day I had the last fence down and it really cost me, after that we would struggle to get on the podium so it’s nice to be sitting here! Ludger and Daniel were fantastic as usual!”
© Sportsbeat 2014