SAN DIEGO — Karl Cook may be able to walk around his hometown unrecognized. He doesn't compete in a league with the popularity of the NFL. His sport doesn't market their mega stars with the likes of Tiger Woods, Shohei Otani or LeBron James. But, on a ranch here in San Diego, he has been training relentlessly, perfecting his craft, equestrian jumping.
And now, Karl Cook has returned home from Paris with some serious hardware; a silver medal from the 2024 Olympics.
"You dream about it for a lot of years. I've been actively training for probably 25, or 26 years, and that's always been the goal for us. It's been a long road to get here, and it's just, it's an amazing feeling."
But, that amazing feeling almost never took place. Karl's path to earning a silver medal was a resilient one. The 33-year-old was originally selected to the United States Jumping team as an alternate rider. It was quite possible, even likely that Cook would have to sit and watch from the sidelines in Versailles while his three American teammates competed for the country.
Cook did not hesitate to vocalize his initial frustration when asked about being selected as an alternate. "I was pissed. I mean, I'm a competitor. I felt I did enough to make it. They put me as alternate. So sure, I was pissed, but at the same time I was still going so, I had to take advantage of that opportunity and was really happy we did."
Taking advantage of an opportunity was exactly what Karl did. "My job as alternate was to be ready to compete. That was the whole reason they put me on the team. If I was going to go be the alternate, I was going to be the best alternate I could be."
It was that mindset that turned out to be the difference maker for not only Karl but the American team as well. Cook and his horse Caracole de la Roque would be forced into action just two and a half hours before team qualifications. "There's always nerves," Cook said. "I think if you don't have nerves, you ride worse. I was just excited to show and trying to focus on getting the job done."
Getting the job done is exactly what Karl and Cara (Caracole de la Roque) would do. As they say in equestrian show jumping Cook was, "all clear." Two perfect rounds between the qualifying and medal rounds helped the USA Team win silver.
"I feel a lot of relief because it's very intense," Cook said. "It takes a lot of work, sacrifice and effort. I feel a lot of relief and just calm, confidence, like, okay, that worked. It worked really well. So, I'm on the right track I'm excited to keep going."
Karl would not only win a silver medal in team equestrian jumping but once again be called into action in the individual discipline. "My horse (Cara) was gonna jump clear. She was feeling unbelievable on course. It's hard to explain but I just knew that we were there."
Unfortunately, competing against the best riders in the world on an Olympic stage, there is zero room for error. After a perfect individual qualifying round, Karl would clip two rails in the medal round, missing out on the podium. A mistake he takes full credit for.
"The rails were my fault, and I just felt like I let her (Cara) down. That's hard because it's so hard to get to that place in a career and then to know that if you just don't mess it up, you're gonna jump clear. And then to mess up like that...it's tough."
After his individual medal round Cook was visibly emotional covering his mouth with his hand and fighting back tears. "I'm still proud, because outside of that mistake we had a nearly perfect week and it's so hard at that level to do that. I'm disappointed we didn't have that final cherry, but the fact we got to show was great."
Cook can now turn his attention towards 2028 when the summer Olympics are right in his own backyard. The games are set to be held in Los Angeles with the Equestrian Jumping even closer to San Diego in Temecula. "I'm excited to show at home. It's hard to have an Olympics closer to home. They could be in New York, and that technically be home, because the U.S., but this is like home, like actually home."
In a world that may be insular to the traditional sports fan, Karl Cook is trying to grow the knowledge and love for jumping to not only those familiar with the sport, but those new to the sport as well. "I want to make a lot of this stuff more approachable, more understandable." For years Cook showed his talents in the ring to those who wanted to watch. Now, he has the Silver to back it up.
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