Olympics - 1984 Los Angeles - Equestrian - Show Jumping Individual - Jump Off For Gold
After clinching team gold for the United States of America at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the final battle for individual gold played out no less triumphantly or dramatically. It came down to two legendary Americans on two extraordinary horses: Conrad Homfeld on Abdullah and Joe Fargis on Touch of Class.
After clinching team gold for the United States of America at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the final battle for individual gold played out no less triumphantly or dramatically. It came down to two legendary Americans on two extraordinary horses: Conrad Homfeld on Abdullah and Joe Fargis on Touch of Class.
Bert de Nemethy was the course designer that year, and as George Morris said in his autobiography, Unrelenting, “When he designed the courses in Los Angeles, he flipped course designing on its head in one fell swoop. He single handedly took Olympic course building from the historically huge, solid, and dangerous to the extremely technical, varied courses we see in international championships today.”
Joe and Conrad were the only riders to go clear in the first round, making it an epic showdown between two of America’s greatest combinations. Watch how it all went down in the archival footage above!