Austin O'Connor

Ireland’s alternate rider came offthe bench and into the reckoning with a smashing performance in this year’s Tokyo Games. Austin O’Connor tells Martha Terry about the mindset of an Olympian and his horse of a lifetime

- Martha Terry

AT 6pm on the night before the eventers’ dressage started in Tokyo, there was a dramatic late switch in the Irish camp. Cathal Daniels’ ride Rioghan Rua, an individual bronze medallist at the European Championships, was pulled out, and Austin O’Connor came into the fray with Colorado Blue. Like a super-sub, he was ready and waiting to make an impact. He went on to finish best of the Irish in 13th.

“I was always prepared, as ready as I could be right up to the off,” says Austin. “In my head, I’d spent a year and a half aiming for this Olympics and I was prepared as if I was going to do it.”

Austin had already watched one Olympics from the substitutes’ bench as reserve in Rio, and he knew he had the horsepower to do Ireland justice this time.

“From the day of selection, it was quite a rollercoaster,” he admits. “There was a lot of disappointment initially not being selected in the team, but we agreed to run with it.”

Austin’s way of coping with the “will I, won’t I” conundrum of the reserve was to believe he would line up.

“I never really accepted the reserve spot; I was always banking on getting a run,” he explains. “It isn’t easy to carry that off, but if you lose focus you might as well stay at home.”

The difference with this year’s new Olympic format was that the alternate could be brought into the team at any phase of the competition. It’s the hardest role for a rider, needing to be adept at switching from a selfless supporter to full-blown competitive mode in a jiffy.