L-R: Team Nederlands (silver medal) Team USA (gold medal) and Team Germany (bronze medal). © FEI/Liz Gregg
The United States continued their best Para Dressage performance at a Paralympic Games by edging Netherlands for gold in a dramatic conclusion to the Team event at Château de Versailles.
Personal best scores by Individual gold medallists Fiona Howard – a stunning 80.000% on Diamond Dunes in Grade II – and Rebecca Hart, who scored 78.567% with Floratina in Grade III, proved critical after another strong Grade I performance by Individual silver medallist Roxanne Trunnell on Fan Tastico H.
That left the USA on a total of 235.567, beating the Dutch tally of 232.850, with Germany taking bronze on 223.751.
The United States’ previous best Paralympic medal haul was two golds and a bronze at both Atlanta 1996 and Tokyo 2020. They so far have three golds and one silver at Paris 2024. USA also became the first nation other than Great Britain to win a Para Dressage Team event at a Paralympic Games.
But it was a tense finale after the Grade IV duo of Sanne Voets on Demantur (76.567%) and Demi Haerkens with Daula (78.216%) had set the early pace for Netherlands.
Trunnell, the first USA athlete to go, scored 77.000% with Fan Tastico H in Grade I, before Howard and the stallion Diamond Dunes delivered the highest individual score of Paris 2024 to date, eclipsing Sara Morganti’s 79.458% on Mariebelle for Italy in Grade I earlier in the day.
While there was excitement around Versailles that it could be a new Paralympic record, due to changes in the tests since the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, it is not possible to make direct comparisons or officially recognise it as a record, but it undoubtedly remains a remarkable achievement.
“I came out the ring and thought, ‘that felt really good’, but you never know,” said 25-year-old Howard, who now has two golds in her first Paralympic Games. “Whatever the score was, I was super proud of him.
“He felt amazing and did everything I could have asked. But then seeing it reflected on the scoreboard was just the cherry on top. What a horse… he is so special.”
That superlative display nudged the USA ahead going into the concluding Grade III, but when Rixt van der Horst and Royal Fonq scored 78.067% for the Dutch, Hart entered the arena on Floratina knowing she needed a personal best score to take gold.
“It’s always a bit intense being the ‘closer’ for your team and it was a very pressure-cooker situation,” said the 39-year-old, who along with Trunnell and Kate Shoemaker was part of the USA team that took bronze at Tokyo 2020.
“I was definitely doing the math. I think my previous best was a 75-something, so it was a jump. Rixt was right before me and I knew they had put in a solid first two rides and that she was going to deliver too. I had a quick peak at the board and went ‘OK, let’s go, game on’. I knew we had to do something pretty special.
“It was quite electric out there. She (Floratina) was feeling the atmosphere and feeling good and feeling fresh. I just needed to make sure I took all that energy and used it in a positive manner.”
The combination’s score of 78.567% brought the USA home, leaving Van der Horst with mixed feelings after winning her second silver medal of these Games.
“It was a tense feeling going into the test,” she said. “I knew I had to deliver a really good test. For myself, I set the goal of at least 78 or something, hopefully a little bit more, and I achieved it, so that was good.”
Germany earned their third medal at Versailles by edging out Italy for bronze. Anna-Lena Niehues and Quimbaya 6, who took Individual bronze in Grade IV, scored 75.351%, before Grade V Individual silver medallist Regine Mispelkamp and Highlander Delight’s earned 75.500%.
There was also a first Paralympic medal – after three previous fourth-place finishes in Individual events – for the oldest Para Dressage competitor in Versailles, 69-year-old Heidemarie Dresing. She scored 72.900% with Dooloop in Grade II to give Germany a total of 223.751, with Italy on 223.166 despite Morganti’s 79.458% with Mariebelle.
“It’s incredible. She really listened to me and we were one single thing together, which is what we worked for. You can always improve, but today, in my condition and her condition, it was perfect.”
France finished fifth while Great Britain, who had won all seven previous Para Dressage Team events since Atlanta in 1996, finished sixth.
“We’ve been in front for such a long time,” said GBR’s Natasha Baker, who scored 75.367% on Dawn Chorus in Grade III. “We didn’t expect to be bringing home the Team gold in Tokyo so that was unreal. The rest of the world has caught up with us now. It’s just going to be a case of us trying to find ways that we can sneak back to the top again.”
Norway’s Jens Lasse Dokkan, the only Para Equestrian athlete to compete at all eight Paralympic Games since Atlanta in 1996, confirmed that Paris 2024 is likely to be his swansong.
“I felt the emotion today,” said the 63-year-old. “I knew this would be my last Paralympics. I haven’t made a final decision about carrying on riding, but right now, I feel I want to retire.”
by Bryn Palmer