PrintAnky van Grunsven isn’t ready to hang up her top hat yet according to an interview with Horses of the Dutch, translated by Eurodressage.
The triple Olympic gold medalist announced that her competition career will likely continue through the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Van Grunsven had previously stated that the 2010 World Equestrian Games could be her final competition, but now she believes Painted Black will be ready to vie for a spot on the Dutch team for the 2012 Games.
Van Grunsven has often been quoted as saying that she doesn’t go to competitions with the goal of placing lower than first. But 2009 was an unprecedented year in dressage with combinations like Edward Gal on Moorland’s Totilas, Adelinde Cornelissen on Parzival, Laura Bechtolsheimer on Mistral Hojris and Steffen Peters on Ravel trading off wins on a playing field previously dominated by van Grunsven and Germany’s Isabell Werth.
At the 2009 European Championships, van Grunsven only managed to grab an individual bronze medal, ending her streak of individual gold that began at the Olympic Games in 2000. She may not even earn a spot in the 2010 FEI World Cup Finals in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, as only the three highest-ranked Dutchmen will compete, and currently Gal, Imke Schellekens-Bartels and Jeannette Haazen are ranked ahead of her in the provisional World Cup ranking.
But in an interview with NRC Handelsblad, van Grunsven admitted that she has enjoyed seeing new riders at the top of the sport. Although she didn’t win as often in 2009, she said the only way to remain undefeated was to quit early in your career. The losses she suffered last year are only motivating her to work harder and try new things.
For now, van Grunsven plans to make this year’s WEG 16-year-old Salinero’s last major competition.
