Fredricson, 52, has ridiculed Swedish equestrian sports with enormous successes in recent years.
He took the Olympic silver in Rio de Janeiro, secured the European Championship gold in 2017 and was the anchor that precisely brought home the Olympic team gold in Tokyo three years ago, just days after another individual Olympic silver.
But it was on All In, a horse out of the ordinary. On "Allan" Fredricson rose to become world number one. In the winter of 2023, All In deservedly went into pension. Instead, Fredricson bet on the equally old Catch Me Not for the Olympic Games. The third place in the World Cup final in Riyadh in April was the receipt he and national team captain Henrik Ankarcrona wanted from the 18-year-old gelding.
Raises questions
When it came to the crunch in Versailles, the capacity was simply not good enough. A strange refusal – "has never happened before" – at the wall in the team qualification meant 17 faults. In the team final, a new downturn awaited.
And now two more that brutally put a stop to Fredricson's pursuit of a third consecutive Olympic medal.
It raises, of course, questions about Ankarcrona's team selection. Should he have picked out Fredricson and "Charlie" after the team final and bet on Malin Baryard Johnsson and Indiana?
Looking at the list, Peder has almost never had such results in his career. I understand that people have different opinions. I made my choices based on the information I had and I was clear that I don't pick out a horse that is fresh and in form.
There were no reasons, it wasn't in my thoughts, says Ankarcrona.
Fredricson was tight-lipped after his last Olympic round for this time.
It's clear that it's sad, but they're not machines we're sitting on. You can't expect them to deliver constantly and always. Sometimes it goes wrong.
Supports von Eckermann
He holds on to the fact that "Charlie" has shown good form.
Overall, everything matched, it was just the result that wasn't good.
No signs of aging in the horse?
The rider, maybe. He (Catch Me Not) was lively and absolutely didn't feel tired, says Fredricson.
As Rolf-Göran Bengtsson also missed the final, Henrik von Eckermann is the only Swede in it.
Fredricson will do what he can to support his national team colleague.
Absolutely. To a hundred percent. Now we have to do what we can to bring home some medals from here.
