He’s a resident of North Carolina but rides for Ecuador. And on Wednesday at the Pan American Games in Chile, Julio Mendoza Loor gave his native land something it never had before–a gold medal in dressage.
He and Jewel’s Goldstrike won the Grand Prix Freestyle with 87.230 percent (including a 3 percent Big Tour bonus) after heading up the Grand Prix Special individual standings the day before. His efforts earned Julio a berth in the Paris Olympics next year. Ecuador does not have a dressage team, so he’ll be carrying the flag on his own.
A proud Julio Mendoza Loor and Jewel’s Gold Strike parade after their freestyle victory.
Julio was a hit with the judges, who gave Goldie lots of 9s on the artistic side, particularly in degree of difficulty (where his highest mark was a 9.6) and music and its interpretation–straight 9s with a 9.5.
He got a 9 for his entrance, the pirouettes, piaffe and passage and two-tempi. Impressive!
As he went along, Julio worked hard to keep his focus.
“Especially after my last pirouette/piaffe, straight from pirouette to piaffe which is really complicated, he was really ready for it,” Julio said.
“After that I had to hold in my tears because I just wanted to cry.”
His 12-year-old Dutch warmblood lives outside around the clock when he is home.
“For me if that’s where he is happiest, then that’s where he has to live,” the rider emphasized.
The silver medal went to Brazil’s João Victor Marcari and Feel Good VO. He was João’s reserve mount, but stepped up to earn 86.160 percent for their Freestyle. They were members of Brazil’s silver medal team.
Anna Marek, who won gold on the U.S. team with Fire Fly, earned the Freestyle bronze on 81.305 percent. She finished just ahead of her teammate, Sarah Tubman, the defending individual gold medalist from the 2019 Games in Lima in 2019. She was marked at 81.155 percent with First Apple.
A native of Germany, Svenja Grimm, rode for Chile and earned 78.335 percent aboard Doctor Rossi to finish eighth and qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Click here for freestyle results