text: Popular stalwart follows London 2012 team glory by earning Team GB's first individual showjumping medal since 1972
  
  NICK SKELTON has bagged equestrian gold at the age of 58 – his first ever individual medal in the Olympics.
  
  The Warwickshire wonder triumphed in a six-way jump-off after setting the pace on Big Star with a blistering clear round of 42.82 seconds.
  
  British veteran Nick Skelton was in the running for an equestrian medal all the way
  
  Skelton won team gold at London 2012 along with Ben Maher, Peter Charles and Scott Brash.
  
  Maher joined him in the individual final today but failed to make the jump-off.
  
  Skelton, in contrast, landed the gong that has long been the one dream he had left in his four decades of top-level jumping.
  
  It was Britain’s first individual showjumping medal for 44 years – and reward for Skelton’s trust and patience.
  
  He stayed with Big Star after missing out on an individual medal in 2012 and despite the 13-year-old horse missing two years after that through injury.
  
  Sweden’s Peder Fredricson took silver, with Canadian Eric Lamaze winning bronze.
summary: NICK SKELTON has bagged equestrian gold at the age of 58 – his first ever individual medal in the Olympics. The Warwickshire wonder triumphed in a six-way jump-off after setting the pace on B…