Paris 2024: Behind the scenes with Para equestrian gold medallist Jorgensen

Two-time Paralympic equestrian gold medallist Tobias Thorning Jorgensen is preparing for a successful defense of the individual test and individual freestyle titles he won at Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. The Danish athlete has gone from underdog champion to favourite at Paris 2024 and admits he is feeling the pressure.

The answer has been to analyse every aspect of his training regime.

“After Tokyo I have been feeling pressure at every competition I have entered but it is something different towards Paris and be gold medal favourite which I am,” he said.

“I know that everyone is going to try and beat me."

Meet the golden team 

Jorgensen says he needs to train even harder than his rivals ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympics, which open on 28 August, and he has a team that supports him.

“I have been working a lot with my mental coach who says that if I have the idea that every rider in my grade is going to take 10 steps forward trying to beat me, I always need to take 12 (steps) forward. Every day they train, I need to train even harder and be even better."

Two mental coaches, Karina Bech and Anders Bendixen, help Jorgensen with the psychology side, two fitness trainers, Lasse Kristiansen and Line Hovgaard, work on getting Jorgensen physically stronger and there are two trainers, Bjarne Nielsen and Nanna Merrald, who work with the horse.

Then there are Jorgensen’s horses. Jolene Hill, the white mare who helped the athlete top the podium in the Championship Grade III and Freestyle Grade III events at Tokyo 2020, and  youngster Blu Hors Zackorado, a black stallion who is reserve.

Behind the scenes

Jorgensen learned to ride at age six and began competing in Para dressage in his early teens after being diagnosed with a condition that weakens muscles. He established himself as a major force in the sport ahead of his Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

Three years later, Jorgensen is looking to repeat the success. From the moment Jorgensen gets up at 6:30, nothing is left to chance.

“The only thing I am doing is training and riding,” the 24-year-old athlete said. “I get up have a little bit of breakfast and then ride.”

 “The only thing I am doing with my life is training and riding because I have a super family and super sponsors who have given me this amazing opportunity.”

While his trainings start early, Jorgensen does not ride his two horses in the morning.

Instead, he rides other horses in the stables and then enjoys a break in the middle of the day.

“It is to improve myself as a rider. I am supposed to be helping my own horses develop and as a rider you only get better by riding a lot of different horses and getting the feeling for it.”

Building the perfect bond

When Jorgensen trains in the morning, Jolene Hill and Zackorado wait for their turn. Jolene Hill gets to wait in the field because she has asthma and reacts to her surroundings.

“Every morning she is out when they are mucking out the stables and she is able to have the best time in a big field and enjoy it, then she comes in around midday and get her lunch. Then we ride.

“I have spent so many hours with her and thinking of her. That is why, when we have breaks, I like to go down to her and be with her.”

Jorgensen focuses on improving Jolene Hill’s fitness but generally keeps her away from competitions because she ‘just needs to be fresh and happy’ for Paris 2024. She is jealous of Zackorado.

“Whenever I come with him (Zackorado), she is putting down her ears. You can see it in her eyes. She is jealous and wants everything to be about her.

“The routine with Zackorado is still about getting to know him. I’ve had a little bit over a year now and the partnership is very different. He has to figure out he is a really good horse.”

After working with Jolene Hill and Zackorado, it is usually between 15:00 and 16:00. He goes to the gym and he works on balance and co-ordination with his fitness trainers.

Twenty-four hours with a champion

“They [the trainers] have a little bit of different focuses. I have learned to use the different muscles in my body and to split my body in different sides so I can get the most correct help to the horses when I’m competing.”

Jorgensen admits that in the past he has neglected his diet but has been working on that aspect too, although chocolate is still an occasional treat and his weakness.

“I have become a good eater. I love a good salad in the middle of the day. I know now how important it is, especially when I am doing so much during the day. I never really ate anything during the day and now I have learned what a difference it can make.”

Unsurprisingly, after a day like this, Jorgensen is ready for an early night.

“I sleep 12 hours, that’s the best. Minimum for me is nine hours or my body is not working. I don’t have a life outside this. I am using everything I have got.

“If I didn’t have the break in midday, especially for the muscles, then I wouldn’t be able to do it. I really need the help that I am getting. It is a big thing they [the team] are helping so much.”

A love for horses

Jorgensen has two sources of motivation in his training regime - a connection with the nearby forest and the presence of his mother, Line Thorning Jorgensen, who competed for Denmark at the Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, and the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Jorgensen is looking forward to being in Paris with his mother.

“She is everything, probably the biggest and most important member of my team.  It is important I have her and her experience.”

The athlete also goes to the forest to remind himself why he is riding.

“When I was a child, I loved going to the forest and ride. This all started with a love for horses and not a love for medals. I think that is something I am really keeping.

“They (the horses) are such big members of the team but you can’t talk to them. I look them in the eye and if they are happy they will do everything for you.”

Book your tickets for the Paralympic Games by visiting the Paris 2024 ticketing website.