Ros Canter enjoys her Olympic homecoming

One of the competitors who won the first gold medal for Team GB at the Paris games is enjoying getting back to "life as normal" in Lincolnshire.

Ros Canter, 38, from Hallington, near Louth, won the Olympic gold in team eventing on Monday, but said she was glad to be home after missing her daughter – who watched mum receive her medal on TV.

Canter said: "A couple of nights ago we went to buy some crisps. She told the man, ‘my mummy’s been in the Olympics’.

"It went straight over his head, but she was quite proud to say it!"

Canter said she "suffered from mum guilt" when her equestrian career took her away from home, but hoped her daughter would see her Olympic achievement as a positive experience.

"I hope she looks back and that it’ll be a good memory for her, not just a memory of 'mummy was always away'," she said.

The European and former world champion said competing in Paris had been a "surreal" experience.

"The crowds were what made it for us," she said.

The cheers the riders received on the cross-country leg of the competition "isn't something I'll experience again", she added.

The experience of receiving her medal, alongside teammates Laura Collett and Tom McEwen, "was just fun".

"Sometimes horses get stressed in that environment, but all our horses were settled, so we were able to just completely enjoy it," she added.

Canter said she would like to compete at the LA 2028 games, when her horse Lordships Graffalo would be 16 – potentially "the last year he could go for it".

Her farm had many "nice younger horses", who might be able to compete at that level by the next games.

"It’s easier with just one human, but when you put a horse in as well, you never quite know what’s going to happen," she said.

"Four years is a long time to plan, particularly with horses."

Having missed the opening ceremony in Paris, Ms Canter has her place booked at the closing ceremony, which she said she was "really looking forward to".

"Now I've ticked the box, I can enjoy what everyone else is doing," she added.

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