Henrik von Eckermann is one of the big Swedish gold hopes under the Olympic rings.
The genre pet at Stockholm's stadium was unusually weak. Reason to worry? So doubt?
The result was clearly not good, but the feeling better. I'm not worried, he says.
It's not just in hockey that things go fast. Also in show jumping. Form is sometimes fleeting.
But von Eckermann did not make excuses in the slightest after the four faults on Stockholm's stadium. He took full responsibility for the subpar performance in the GP show jumping.
"It shouldn't happen"
It was my mistakes. It's not enough to have a King Edward in a class like this, which is 1.60. If you don't do enough right yourself as a rider, it doesn't matter which horse you're sitting on.
It shouldn't happen, but now it did and I have to take it with me and work forward.
The world number one went in as a clear favorite – not least after Saturday evening's exhibition when he won the qualifying competition.
Then he was lyrical afterwards and didn't need to search for words. After the unusually many mistakes in Sunday's GP, he was verbally more sparse.
Better to have four faults now than in a couple of weeks.
I'll analyze what happened when I get home. What to work on until the Olympics. As I said, the result was not good, but I'm not worried, says Henrik von Eckermann.
Olympics next for King Edward
Ahead lies a build-up period for King Edward. The world number one doesn't deviate from his routines. Before championships and other significant tasks, he gives his horses a longer competition break.
King Edward won't jump the really high fences again until everything is at stake in the Versailles palace park.
He himself takes no vacation. Already next weekend, he'll be jumping in the prestigious competitions in Aachen, where a team jumping is included. He's going there with Iliana, the reserve horse for the Olympics, but also brings along the future hope Cadjanine.
In two years, the World Championship will be decided in Aachen. Then it's not certain that King Edward will have the same outstanding ability as today. Moreover, the World Championship is held on grass, a surface the untried horse doesn't jump on.
Cadjanine can be an alternative when it's time to try to defend the World Championship gold from 2022.
Directly after Aachen, Henrik von Eckermann is the poster name in Falsterbo.
