Ardmore’s Daniel Coyle admits the pressure of competing in his maiden Olympic Games is “like nothing I’ve ever experienced”, but handled the Paris heat to book a spot in Friday’s jumping final alongside Shane Sweetnam and Cian O’Connor.

A smooth clear round by 30-year-old Coyle and his horse Legacy was the highlight of Ireland’s qualifier as they continued their fine form of recent months, following on from success at December’s London Grand Prix and two Longines World Cup triumphs in the space of a week in Leipzig and Amsterdam.

Coyle, who is seeded 11th in the world rankings, also starred as Ireland won the Longines Nations Cup in Ocala and returned just four faults from two rounds in a runner-up finish in Rome.

He’s now hoping to achieve success on one of sport’s biggest stages and after getting a first taste for the Olympics on Thursday alongside Legacy, an Ariel Grange-owned mare, Coyle insists “we’re not just here to compete”.

placeholder image — Daniel Coyle and horse Legacy of Team Ireland compete in the Jumping Team Qualifier on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Chateau de Versailles on August 01, 2024 in Versailles, France. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

“She was magic,” said Coyle of Legacy. “Everything she’s done for me already, she owes me nothing, but when you get to places like this and she gives these performances you’re always left expecting more and expecting more of yourself.

“We’re not here just to compete. We’ve done that before at championships and it doesn’t always go right – it could be one fence from a win, lose or a draw but we’ll be fighting hard. we have a great team and we’re looking forward to tomorrow."

After Daniel Wiffen, Jack McMillan and Hannah Scott doubled Northern Ireland’s historic Olympic gold medal tally over recent days, Coyle will be dreaming of following in their footsteps.

There were also celebrations for Banbridge’s Philip Doyle (bronze) and Belfast rower Rebecca Shorten (silver) and while both were competing in their second Games, Coyle says there’s something different about this competition after taking a maiden step.

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced, there definitely is extra pressure,” he added. “I’ve rode in a lot of championships but there’s something different about this.”

After Team Ireland qualified for the final in sixth, team manager Michael Blake said: “Today worked out very well. We had some tiny bits of misfortune. A lot more teams had a lot more.

"The horses are jumping well and I think they will jump better tomorrow because this is an unusual event in that there is no class beforehand so you’re going in cold.

“But the course builder did a good job with that in mind. It was probably a bit of a surprise that 20 faults got in so it caused plenty of trouble but I would expect it to be tougher tomorrow. But we are looking forward to it and to being right in the mix at the business end.”