Versailles, France—July 30
Denmark set the standard in today’s Grand Prix for what is expected to be a hotly contested dressage competition at the Paris Olympic Games. While this is only the first of two days of Grand Prix tests, and only seven teams have had two riders compete, Denmark has taken the lead on a score of 154.93. Great Britain stands second with 152.28, and Sweden is third with 145.87.
Germany is also expected to vie for the gold medal, but the country only had one rider competing today, Frederic Wandres and Bluetooth OLD. Their score of 76.11% was good enough for the rider, who regularly spends winters in Florida at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, to qualify for the freestyle, which will be held Sunday to determine individual medals.
The Grand Prix serves as the qualifier for both the team and individual finals. The top 10 teams will advance to the Grand Prix Special, which will be a clean-slate final, to decide the team medals. At the Olympics, riders are sorted into six groups, and from each of those groups, the top two scorers earn automatic entry to the individual final. After all the groups are finished Wednesday, the six top-scoring riders who haven’t already qualified, will earn berths to the freestyle.
Denmark’s first rider, Nanna Skodborg Merrald, put in the top score of the day, 78.02%, with Zepter.
“Really good test, solid test without big mistakes but also plenty of room for improvement,” she said. “I think my changes I couldn’t have done a lot better, but the piaffe/passage, the pirouettes, there’s still room for asking for more.”
Her strong performance was followed by that of her countryman, Daniel Bachmann Andersen, who scored 76.91% with Vayron. Andersen is competing in his first Olympics and qualified for the freestyle as the top scorer in his group.
“I am so thrilled,” he said. “I’m so proud to represent my country at an Olympic Games for the first time and then do a [personal best] by almost a whole percentage. That’s quite the thing. I was very proud when I rode in. It was not like I felt, ‘Oh now I have to do a PB,’ but I felt just safe and proud. And our team that we have together here are just absolutely amazing. We are so good for each other. And we’re very different persons, but we are very good for each other. We trust each other, and we are there for each other. I know that we are there for each other.”
The team from Great Britain has been under enormous scrutiny at the Games in the fallout of a scandal that saw veteran Olympian Charlotte Dujardin provisionally suspended last week, after a video of her whipping a student’s horse was sent to the FEI. Mainstream media descended on the mixed zone, where riders talk to press following their rides, to ask about the controversy. Despite the media spotlight, their riders Carl Hester (Fame) and Becky Moody (Jagerbomb) delivered strong tests.
Hester was their first rider in the ring, scoring a 77.34% with the horse he started riding just last year.
“I got him because he’s hot number to ride, and Fiona [Bigwood] knows I love that sort of horse. … I don’t care about, like first, second or third, I care about the ride that I get off him,” he said. “He so genuine. It’s like riding around a Grand Prix, just whispering little instructions to him; he’s that clever. And I love that about him, and I love the way he tries in there. There are a few things to improve, but this is the qualification for Saturday and Sunday, so it’s a good start for us.”
Hester, who is a longtime mentor of Dujardin, acknowledged the scrutiny has been difficult in the lead-up to the Games.
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“To go in there after everything that’s been going on, and actually to be able to relax and enjoy it,” he said, “it wasn’t till I went up the middle that I suddenly took a deep breath and thought, ‘Well, I’m here. Enjoy it. You never know if it’s going to be your last. Get on with it, push all the buttons and get on with it.’ ”
Moody got the call-up after Dujardin’s suspension and is competing in her first Olympics. She also happens to be riding one of her homebreds, Jagerbomb, so named for her grandfather Norman, whose nickname was “Bomb.” They scored a 74.93%, and as the top score of their group, have earned a spot in the final.
“That was insane,” she said. “What a stadium, what a crowd, just an amazing experience. What a horse. He’s so special to me; I bred him. So we have done everything together. And I think we both went in there, a little bit nervous and apprehensive, but we helped each other out, and I’m just so proud of him. He’s amazing.”
The day started off with a fizzle for the United States. Olympic first-timer Marcus Orlob was rung out of his test with Jane when blood was spotted on her right hind.
“It’s like a very minor cut, almost like a mosquito bite because she has a white leg, so you saw a little bit of blood,” he said. “Now we showered her, washed her off, and there’s nothing to see anymore. She’s happy; she’s healthy. It’s all good; it was just bad luck to happen. Unfortunately, that’s our sport.”
Without his score, the U.S. team is unable to qualify for the team final, but both Adrienne Lyle and Steffen Peters can still try to earn a spot in the freestyle.
Lyle rode today and scored 72.59%, putting her third in the group Moody leads, which means she’ll have to wait until the end of Wednesday’s tests to know whether she has qualified for the freestyle and a chance for an individual medal.
“My heart just broke for [Orlob],” Lyle said. “I thought he was riding so beautifully. That’s such an incredible horse and combination coming up, and to be having such a great ride and to hear the bell ring, and none of us knew why. At first, we were all a little confused. And then, of course, we saw it. And it’s just sometimes those things happen, you know, the good thing is, the horse is fine, and he rode beautiful. Hopefully, he left a nice impression on everybody to see what they’re capable of.
“But I had to put that out of my head and not let it affect my ride with Helix,” she said. “He is a very sensitive to your energy as a person, so if you’re upset, or you’re bad, or you’re sad, he definitely picks up on that. It’s my job to protect him.”
Chef d’Equipe Christine Traurig also called Orlob’s elimination unfortunate, saying the mare got excited going into the arena and spun at the noise of the crowd.
“This was very unfortunate because in fact the beginning of the test was beautiful for a horse that is just 10 years old and has done this at this level for [a] very short time, since February,” she said. “Yes, [Jane] is amazing. That was very unfortunate because up until that point, they were running around a 73%, and it would’ve gone up higher with the canter work and the last centerline.”
Traurig also heaped praise on Lyle’s performance and ability to help Helix in the electric atmosphere.
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“Adrienne did a fantastic job riding Helix,” she said. “Again, he was on when he entered the arena, and we were thinking, ‘Whoa, definitely plenty of energy there,’ and she handled it masterfully. They had a very good score considering this combination is only together for a very short time and did not start the CDIs until the beginning of May. It shows you what potential the horse has and also what potential Adrienne has as a rider.”
The last of the U.S. contingent, Olympic veterans Peters and Suppenkasper go later in the rotation Wednesday.
“We are hoping Adrienne, as well as Steffen, make it into the freestyle, fingers crossed,” Traurig said. “I know it will be tough, but that’s what we are hoping for. Unfortunately we are out of contention for a placing for the team, but we’ll keep on going forward.”
Lyle is a two-time Olympian, but her partnership with Helix is still quite new. She got the ride on him just before the Olympic deadline in January, so they’ve been building a partnership over the last few months. Today, they showed the fruits of their work.
“I think our Grand Prix score is right about dead on with what our average was in qualifying, and that was really my goal,” Lyle said. “You know, of course, I know there’s a lot more in there. He’s a very talented horse, but when you add the element of this environment and the excitement and stuff, I thought that if we could just reproduce what we’ve been doing in the qualifying competition, that would be really happy. And he went out there, and he put an error-free test in. I was really, really happy with him.”
The Grand Prix will continue tomorrow beginning at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET). Peters and Suppenkasper will go down centerline at 3:01 p.m. (11:01 a.m. ET).
The Chronicle has a reporter on site at the Paris Olympics. See all of our coverage here.
