Individual podium Grade V. L-R: Regine Mispelkamp (GER), Michèle George (BEL), and Sophie Wells (GBR) © FEI/Liz Gregg
Demi Haerkens (NED) confirmed her status as a rising star of Para Dressage as she claimed Grade IV gold with Daula on her Paralympic Games debut on the second day of Individual medal events at Château de Versailles. The 26-year-old, who came to the fore by winning European Championship gold last year, excelled in the sunlit arena to finish with a score of 78.722%.
Defending champion Sanne Voets (NED), partnering Demantur again after they won double gold and team silver at Tokyo 2020, had to settle for silver with 76.528%, taking Voets’ overall Paralympic medal tally to five.
The one-two lifted Netherlands into second place on the Para Dressage medal table at Paris 2024 with a gold and two silvers, behind USA on two golds and a silver.
“It feels amazing,” said Haerkens, after waiting for 11 other combinations to go before her gold medal was confirmed. “She (Daula) really deserved this gold. My horse was a superstar today. We have been together three years now and every year our bond grows.
“It was such a lovely ride. She was so focused, with such lovely quality and softness. We didn’t make any mistakes. She was with me and dancing with a lot of quality. She was amazing. Now I want to go to the stable and give her big cuddles.”
Voets, 37, said a tour of the royal stables at Château de Versailles last year had resonated with her as she prepared for a fourth Paralympic Games.
“They showed me a lot, and how they still work with horses every day, with such a beautiful motto,” she said.
“They work with the belief that our horses don’t owe us anything, that the horses are not an instrument for us to reach our goals and reach our ambitions, but that we are an instrument for our horse to develop them into beautiful, strong, healthy, happy athletes.”
Anna-Lena Niehues (GER), who took time off in 2023 to give birth to daughter Nelly, took bronze on Quimbaya 6 with 75.222%, edging Frenchman Vladimir Vinchon on Pegase Mayenne into fourth on 72.889%.
World number one Kate Shoemaker (USA) finished out of the medals in fifth after her horse Vianne spooked during their performance.
“It is the first spook she has ever had with me,” she said. “Something must have caught her eye. It was just an unfortunate moment. But horses are horses, and if we wanted to ride motorcycles, we would ride motorcycles.
“Regardless, I love her more than anything in the world and she is certainly forgiven because there are going to be a lot of beautiful days in future.”
Michèle George (BEL) showed her enduring class as she won her sixth Paralympic gold medal, defending her Grade V Individual title on Best of 8.
The 50-year-old, who won double individual gold at Tokyo 2020, finished well clear with a superb score of 76.692% to take her overall Paralympic medal tally to seven.
“I’m incredibly happy. She (Best of 8) was amazing. For me, it felt like a gold medal because I had nearly no mistakes and she was really dancing with me. I enjoyed every second of it. It means a lot,” she said.
George will aim to repeat her Tokyo feat of winning both Individual Grade V golds in Saturday’s Individual Freestyle event. “I really look forward to showing people how she can dance with our music, because she adores it,” she added.
Regine Mispelkamp (GER), partnering Highlander Delight’s, added a silver medal to her individual Freestyle bronze from Tokyo, scoring 73.231%.
The 53-year-old, who coaches athletes and trains horses for Dressage at her own stables near Kerken (GER), hopes to continue for possibly two more Paralympic cycles.
“I have two young horses who are coming on, so I am thinking about 2028 and maybe 2032,” she said. “It is the best thing I do and when I do it, I am not thinking about my illness.”
Sophie Wells (GBR), partnering LJT Egebjerggards Samoa after her original horse Don Cara M was ruled out, won her ninth Paralympic medal by taking bronze – Great Britain’s third of these Games – with 72.257%, adding to her previous four golds and four silvers.
“It’s not ideal,” she said of her late change in horses. “But she was so brave going into that arena. She got a little bit nervous, but she is eight years old. I held her hand through the whole test. She listened to me and I couldn’t be prouder of her for that.”
After a rest day on Thursday, Para Dressage resumes at Versailles on Friday with the team event, with three athlete/horse combinations from each nation joining forces in a bid for a place on the podium.
Great Britain have won all seven team golds since 1996, but will face strong competition from the likes of USA and Netherlands if they are to maintain that sequence.
The final set of Individual medals will be decided on Saturday, 7 September, as the top eight from the Individual tests in each of the five Grades compete in the Freestyle events.
by Bryn Palmer