Great Britain's Emma Sheardown overcame a major setback to put in a personal best performance and claim Freestyle gold in Para Dressage Grade 1a at the WEG today. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.
SHEER GRIT EARNS GOLD FOR SHEARDOWN, BRENNER MAKES IT A DOUBLE by Louise Parkes
Lexington, 8 October – British Para-Dressage star Anne Dunham said on Thursday night, “don’t say I can’t – say I can. It may be slow and it may be hard, but it’s always worth it in the end.” Those words rang true this afternoon when, against all the odds, her team-mate Emma Sheardown overcame a nasty accident the previous evening to come out and produce the best performance of her life and clinch the Individual Grade 1a Freestyle title at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA.
Once again the British had it all their own way in Grade 1a, but the placings were re-jigged. Yesterday’s Individual champion Sophie Christiansen had to settle for silver this time around while Dunham took bronze.
Olympic champions Eric Lamaze and Hickstead from Canada have qualified for tomorrow's Final Four competition that will decide the new Jumping World Champion at the WEG. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.
AL SHARBATLY SPRINGS A SURPRISE TO JOIN LAMAZE, LE JEUNE AND PESSOA IN FINAL FOUR by Louise Parkes
Lexington, 8 October – Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al Sharbatly sprang a big surprise today when, riding the brilliant mare Seldana di Campalto, he produced two more amazing clear rounds to earn his place in the Final Four competition which will decide the individual Jumping medals at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA tomorrow night. The 28 year old will join three giants of the sport in the exciting contest which tests horsemanship skills to the limit as the riders exchange horses. But Al Sharbatly has no fear of competing against the reigning Olympic Champion Eric Lamaze from Canada, former World Champion Rodrigo Pessoa from Brazil and Belgium’s Philippe Le Jeune.
After securing the coveted top-four qualifying spot tonight the Saudi rider said, “You never know what’s going to happen. Even if you ride perfectly well tomorrow you need a little luck and I think we will see a big surprise!”
SCRATCHED
With America’s Laura Kraut and her Olympic gold medal winning ride Cedric scratched from the startlist after this morning’s veterinary inspection there was a 29-strong field in today’s first round in which course designer Conrad Homfeld once again tested control and accuracy. Home hero McLain Ward produced the first clear with Sapphire when seventh to go and only four others would follow suit in this round in which the faults were evenly spread around the 12-fence course. However it was the penultimate triple combination which proved the bogey, the middle oxer in particular claiming a large number of victims, and it was here that Germany’s Carsten-Otto Nagel’s great run with Corradina came unstuck with four very expensive faults that dropped them from overnight third down to sixth.
October 8, 2010 – Lexington, KY – Ties almost never happen in four-in-hand driving, but they’re the rule of the day at the Driving World Championships at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The United States and the Netherlands are tied for first in the race for the team medals, at 76.16 penalties, with their top two drivers tied for second and fourth.
The only clear leader is Boyd Exell of Australia, who drove his team to a five-point lead in dressage, scoring 30.08 penalties, the best dressage score ever recorded in a World Championship. Chester Weber of the USA and IJsbrand Chardon of the Netherlands are tied for second (35.97), and Tucker Johnson of the USA and Theo Timmerman of the Netherlands are tied for fourth (40.19).
“I think I’ve seen maybe two ties in 20 years, so to have the teams and the four of us tied is amazing,” said Johnson.
Boyd Exell (AUS) set a new World Championship record in the Driving Dressage to take the lead at the Four-In-Hand Driving Championship at the WEG. Photo: FEI/Rinaldo Craen
New World Championship Record for Exell by Cindy Timmer
Australia’s Boyd Exell set a new World Championship record this afternoon with his team of black geldings, owned by Hungary’s Vincze Tamas. Exell put down a faultless dressage test, which was awarded with a magnificent score of 30.08 penalty points. The previous World Record was set by Chester Weber (USA), who scored 32.13 penalty points at the 2008 World four-in-hand Driving Championships in Beesd (NED).
New leader
Exell, who won the CAIO Aachen and Royal Windsor Horse Show 2010 with this same team, has now taken over the lead in the standings from IJsbrand Chardon (NED) and Chester Weber (USA) who both set a score of 35.97 penalty points on the first dressage day. USA’s Tucker Johnson and Dutch driver Theo Timmerman, who both finished dressage with a score of 40.19, are tied in fourth place.
American Laura Goldman finished fourth aboard Carlingford JD in the Grade Ia Individual Test for ParaDressage at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Photo By: Lauren Giannini.
Lexington, KY – October 7, 2010 – ParaDressage participated and crowned champions for the first time in the history of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. For many of the para-equestrians participating in the Games was reward in and of itself, but for the Europeans who came to Kentucky Horse Park winning was the name of the game. Great Britain emerged victorious with team gold, helped along by their medal sweep in Grade 1a. Germany took team silver, and the Netherlands prevailed for the bronze.
In the team competition, the USA finished eighth out of 16 participating nations. American para-equestrians gave their best effort but were unable to match the scores of the European riders. The difference between the American para-riders’ score of 197.456 and the British tally of 214.529 did not seem like much, but fractions mean the difference between being a medalist or an also ran.
The Individual tests in Grades II, Ia and Ib concluded just before the medal ceremony. Yesterday, Grades III and IV went under the scrutiny of the panel of five judges.
October 5, 2010 – Lexington, KY – Great Britain, the team expected to win the gold medal at the Para Dressage World Championships, has taken the lead halfway through the team competition. Germany stands second, with the Netherlands third and Denmark fourth.
The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games mark the first time that para dressage has been part of the World Games.
“[The British team hasn’t] lost a gold medal at a major championship since the sport started, so there is a lot pressure,” said Sophie Christiansen of the British team, whose score of 69.41 percent in grade Ia team test on Rivaldo Of Berkeley aided the British effort. “I went to [the 2004 Athens Paralympics] at 16, so I know how to deal with the pressure. We have so much support, and that gives us Brits the upper hand.”
October 7, 2010 – Lexington, Ky., – The battle has begun for the Individual and Team medals in the Four-In-Hand Driving World Championships, held as part of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, and tied for the top spot are two of the sport’s biggest names.
IJsbrand Chardon of The Netherlands was the second driver in the arena for the opening Dressage phase, and he turned in a spectacular performance to score a 35.97.
In the next to last position was Chester Weber, driving for the United States, and he turned in the identical score to stand tied with Chardon for first place.
Neither Chardon nor Weber is a stranger to this top level of competition. Chardon, a legend in the sport of Driving, has been Dutch National Champion twenty-one times and has won medals in four World Equestrian Games, including Team and Individual Gold. Weber has won eight consecutive U.S. National Championships and has a Team Silver Medal from the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.
October 7, 2010 – Lexington, KY – Great Britain continued its historical domination of the Para Dressage World Championships by taking the team gold, and sweeping all three individual medals in the Grade Ia division, as well as the individual gold and silver in grade Ib. These medals follow yesterday’s gold-medal performance by Sophie Wells, bringing to seven the total British medal count in para dressage at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
Leading the British charge was Sophie Christiansen, 22, who took individual gold in the grade Ia test with a score of 76.100 percent and provided a crucial score for her team. Christiansen was overcome when her score was announced.
“My trainer decided I should ride for longer today. I normally ride for 15 minutes, and today I rode for 30 minutes,” she said. “I’m so happy with him because he just took care of me. That score is the highest I’ve ever gotten in the individual test. The feeling afterward is so wonderful. I was so nervous this morning!”
The British team of Sophie Christiansen, Lee Pearson, Anne Dunham and Jo Pitt claimed team gold in the Para Dressage Championship at the WEG today. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton
UNBEATABLE BRITS TAKE TEAM GOLD ONCE AGAIN AS CHRISTIANSEN, VAN DE SANDE AND PEARSON CLAIM INDIVIDUAL TITLES by Louise Parkes
Lexington, 7 October – The British were in stunning form in the Para Dressage Championship at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA, when winning the team title, taking a clean sweep of the medals in the Grade 1a Individual, and gold and silver in Grade 1b. It was The Netherlands Petra Van de Sande who put a stop to their gallop when winning Grade 2 ahead of Germany’s Britta Napel, while Denmark’s Caroline Cecilie Nielsen took bronze.
Britain’s Para Dressage record is outstanding – they have never been beaten in the battle for the World title since taking team gold on their home turf in Hartpury in 1991. But their shining star, the formidable Lee Pearson who predictably also took the Grade 1b gold in convincing fashion today, said tonight that the standard of the sport is improving rapidly and that he and his team-mates no longer have the advantage they have grown accustomed to – the margins are getting tighter all the time.
Germany's Simone Wiegele heads the leaderboard after today's Female Individual Freestyle Vaulting Championship at the Alltech FEI WEG. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.
WIEGELE AND LOOSER HEAD VAULTING RANKINGS AFTER FREESTYLE by Louise Parkes
Lexington, 7 October – The Alltech Arena at the Horse Park in Kentucky, USA was packed to capacity today for the first round of the Male and Female Freestyle Vaulting Championships at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. And a superb performance from Germany’s Simone Wiegele clinched pole position in the Female division while Switzerland’s Patric Looser now heads the Male Freestyle leaderboard. Scores from yesterday’s Compulsory Test and today’s Freestyle decide the current standings.
The crowd really got involved with every test, hardly able to contain their enthusiasm until the end when, time after time, they burst into waves of spontaneous applause as the 20 Male, and 33 Female vaulters put on quite a show.
