SARK-BORN dressage star Carl Hester failed to clinch his hope of an Olympic medal in the mixed individual event yesterday. But the 37-year-old veteran Olympian was hailed as the future of the sport by BBC commentators after a difficult test that saw him end up in 13th place.

‘There’s only 1% between 8th and 13th place which is very irritating, but I’m delighted I made it to the finals,’ he said, after hearing his score.’

‘It gets very close at the top.’

Hester finished the three sections on a total score of 71.561.

He had already exceeded his wildest expectations after finishing day one of the competition at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre in fourth place.

The surprise meant that he had to make a last-minute change to his music routine because he felt the Olympic finals demanded one that was more technically difficult than his original programme.

He ended up borrowing a team member’s programme. The two stayed up the night before and used video footage to go through the routine together.

This was complicated by the fact that his horse, Escapado, had never experienced the charged atmosphere of the Olympic crowd.

‘You’ve got to have the relaxation. If I’d had a couple of minutes to get him going, then it would have been okay.

‘If he had been rideable, he could have done any of the movements but the atmosphere made him nervous.

‘If they are not well travelled, they arrive at the Olympics and it blows their heads off,’ he added.

‘It would have been lovely to have won a medal but personally it’s worked out really well for his first time.’

Escapado stands a good chance of being a medal-winning horse at the next Olympics.

Hester was delighted to have competed with the world’s best.

‘Everyone wants to win a medal but only three do. You’re competing against the very best with the very best judges. From that point of view, I’m delighted.

‘Something like this where I can be much closer to the top has given me the incentive to give it another go. It’s my sport and I’m passionate about it.’

He returns to the UK today. He said he would celebrate his last night in Athens with family and fellow team members. He said some Greek wine would keep him asleep on the journey home.