There were two congratulations for Michael Jung: Firstly, his birthday is this Saturday, he is now 39 years old.

And secondly, he delivered the top result in dressage at the start of the eventing competition in Tokyo with 21.1 minus points.

This means that Jung is in the lead in the Olympic individual classification before the cross-country ride on Sunday.

At the edge of the dressage arena, the German delegation around national trainer Hans Melzer celebrated a wave for him - but that was about the festivities.

There was a lot to do.

Evi Simeoni

Sports editor.

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No sooner had the Swabian from Horb finished his practically flawless and technically exemplary dressage on the 13-year-old gelding Chipmunk, when his thoughts wandered a step further, to the island of Sea Forest, an hour and a half drive away. The horses were all loaded and taken to the off-road course by the sea, not far from the rowing course, where the Germany eighth just won his silver medal. But for Jung, the exceptional rider from Horb on the edge of the Black Forest, it should be gold. The third Olympic gold in a row, which would be historical.

But of course he knows that the best way to do this is to stay completely grounded and do your work. So he walked the cross-country course again in the afternoon. “I hope,” he said, “that we will then have a good plan.” The cross country on Sunday is the heart of the competition in three disciplines, the decision in team and individual evaluation will be made in the course jumping on Monday.

All in all, the German team, with which traditionally high expectations of success are associated, is in second place ahead of Cross Country. The performance of Michael Jung, who started as the last of the three riders, catapulted them from fifth place, only 2.1 points behind Great Britain, which is a tiny deficit. New Zealand is in third place, ahead of Olympic hosts Japan. Julia Krajewski from Warendorf came fourth with her 25.20 points and was within the expected range. If her mare Amande de B'Neville hadn't even been interested in the scoreboard for a short time and hadn't flicked her crotch, the result would have been even better. “It's a shame,” said Hans Melzer, but he seemed satisfied.

The former world champion Sandra Auffarth (Ganderkesee) did not have such a successful day with her gelding Viamant du Matz. Too many mistakes, especially a faulty canter, resulted in her ending up in 37th place with 34.1 minus points. And the regulations are complained about: the teams only consist of three pairs, results are abolished. This increases the risk enormously for the strong nations, especially off-road. On the other hand, safety steps should not be enough for success. "I think it is not the right way if we all approach the matter very carefully now, only to be there at the end," said Jung. And Melzer said: “We don't just want to participate. We want to deliver top results, and that is only possiblewhen all three really attack in all three disciplines, even off-road. "

The neat terrain route was built on a former garbage dump.

The main difficulty will be the weather.

It's hot in Tokyo and there is hardly any shade there.

A longer distance was originally planned, but due to the heat and humidity it was shortened to 4,420 meters.

For the same reason, Cross Country was moved to the morning, it starts at 7.30 a.m. (0.30 a.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for the Olympics, ZDF and Eurosport).

The ideal time is 7:45 minutes.

Between the 28 obstacles, longer gallop stretches were built in to give the horses the chance to take a deep breath.

Technically demanding route

The view of the harbor and Tokyo Gate Bridge is breathtaking, but the 62 riders will have other things to do than enjoy the panorama. The tasks set by the American course designer Derek di Grazia are technically demanding, as befits the Olympics. Balance is required, narrow jumps have to be made, in other places, when you land downhill, you need a lot of courage. From a purely visual point of view, the obstacles are a pleasure: from stacks of sushi to temple steps and wooden Koi carp to huge images of Fujiyama, there is a lot of Japanese here.

An advantage for the German team is their late start time, as the penultimate in their group. "We have a very good starting position," said Jung. Julia Krajewski as "Pathfinder" is only the fourteenth on it, namely at 8.24 am, in Germany at 1.24 am. In other words, it can still learn from the experiences of its pioneers. Sandra Auffarth starts at 9.36 a.m. (2.36 CEST). Michael Jung is the penultimate starter at 10.48 a.m. (3.48 a.m. CEST), at a time of day when he will probably be more affected by the heat than the early starters. But a champion cannot be disturbed. “It should be cloudy. Usually there is a light breeze. And it was already hot for us this summer, ”he said. But of course he knows that a lot can still happen until the finish line."You need a lot of luck with the weather and other things that you can't control."