German equestrian Michael Jung beat his main challengers, Christopher Burton from Australia and Laura Collett of Britain in the final showjumping contest to capture an Olympic gold in the three-day individual eventing competition, which combines dressage, cross-country and showjumping. 

"My knees are shaking," the 41-year-old Jung told German public broadcaster ARD afterwards.

"I can only thank my horse again and again, he saved me again on the last line," adding that he had to look at the results board three times to convince himself

Jung, riding on his horse Chipmunk in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, finished with a final score of 21.8 penalty points, ahead of Burton with 22.4 and Collett with 23.1.

Jung has now snagged four Olympic golds in total  

This was Jung's fourth Olympic gold medal and his third in individual eventing after winning the competition in 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio — making him the only rider to have achieved this feat.  For Burton, who is ranked 151 internationally, it was his first Olympic medal.

Jung produced a a flawless last showjumping round, after having excelled in Sunday's cross-country and putting in a solid performance in the dressage on Saturday.

This was the first medal Jung has won with Chipmunk, a horse he took over in 2019 from fellow German Olympian Julia Krajewski.

Earlier, Britain had captured gold in the team competition.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery