August 2, 2024 
Steve Guerdat’s Olympic bid started with disappointment and he’s is not shy about expressing it.
The Swiss team failed to make the top 10 in Thursday’s Team Jumping Qualifier at the Paris Games, racking up 24 faults to finish in 12th overall and out of medal contention.
It was a shocking turn for one of the strongest team lineups on paper.
Guerdat and Dynamix De Belheme took individual gold at the 2023 European Championships and jump clear at 63% at a 1.60m (Jumpr Stats). Martin Fuchs and Leone Jei have won two, 1.60m five-star grands prix this year alone. And two-time Olympian Pius Schwizer was on veteran Vancouver de Lanlore, a stallion that jumped in Tokyo in 2020 under France’s Penelope Leprevost.
But the day didn’t play to their potential.
Guerdat started the team on eight faults. Schwizer added 12 more and Fuchs’s four faults were the nail in the coffin. The cut off score to qualify was 20 and with time deciding the ties, the Swiss were speedier.
After Thursday’s loss, Guerdat took to social media to express his discontent: “Throwback to this day to forget at the Paris Olympics 2024.”
The 2012 Olympic champion is nothing if not direct.
He went to elaborate, making no excuses for the team’s result:
“From the beginning, I felt that Dynamix de Belheme wasn’t as usual, less relaxed, 200% unsure as always. She jumped all over the world, and it’s the first time I’ve ever felt her that way, so I must have made a mistake in preparation. I have to go back down to think cool and find solutions for the days to come. The course is difficult, but as expected, we’re at the Games. My turn to do better.
“Switzerland failing to qualify for the team final in these Paris Games is a failure to myself and the entire Swiss clan.”
Team Switzerland took the bronze at the Beijing Games in 2008.
Guerdat may be gutted by the result. But the top 10 teams vying for medals in Friday’s Team Final are liking their odds a little better with the Swiss on the sidelines.
