The United States Equestrian Federation announced today, June 25, the four-member dressage short list for the 2004 Olympics, Athens, Greece, Aug. 15-27.
They riders are: Debbie McDonald/Brentina, Robert Dover/FBW Kennedy, Guenter Seidel, who will choose between his two qualified horses, Aragon and Nikolaus 7, and Lisa Wilcox/Relevant. The two alternates are Steffen Peters on Floriano and Leslie Morse and Kingston.
The team leaves next week for Europe where they will compete in Germany at the Aachen CDIO, July 13-18. The results of Aachen will play a large part in setting the actual team.
Wilcox, who currently resides in Europe, didn’t ride in the U.S. selection trials, and so, according to the selection procedure rules, needed to have a weighted average score at least 2 percentage points higher than the fourth ranked rider/horse combination to make the top four on the short list. Her score was 74.93 percent, 2.55 percentage points higher than Steffen Peters on Floriano (72.38 percent). According to the selection procedures, Wilcox and Peters will now be required to compete head-to-head at Aachen, and possibly also at the Lingen CDI (Germany) to vie for the fourth spot on the Olympic team.
The U.S dressage team selectors and U.S. Coach Klaus Balkenhol, along with Seidel, will decide which horse he will take to Athens after the competitions in Europe are completed.
This is one of the strongest dressage teams the United States has had the opportunity to send to Olympic competition. Dover finished first overall in the 2004 Olympic dressage selection trials, June 18-20, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., sweeping all four competitions. Athens will be his sixth Olympics.
McDonald will be attending her first Olympic Games, but she and Brentina are a well-established combination in international dressage. McDonald is the 2003 World Cup winner and is currently ranked No. 2 in the world by the Federation Equestre International.
Morse will go to Europe to train with the other short-listed riders. She may also compete at some of the pre-Olympic competitions if an additional invitation can be secured. Morse will be available if another horse/rider combination has to be replaced.
