by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 15, 2016
Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro on their victory lap.
The two most successful dressage riders in history battled it out today in the Olympic freestyle for the individual medals, but in the end it was no contest Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, the horse who has set all the records for the Grand Prix, Special and Freestyle, repeated their 2012 Olympic gold with a score of 93.857.
An emotional Charlotte, for whom tears came as she performed her final halt, said, “I just knew he couldn’t have done any more. I felt like he’d done his very best.”
While this is doubtless Valegro’s last championship, the exact retirement plans for the horse who’s been everywhere and done everything are still pending.
Germany’s Isabell Werth took the silver on Wiehegold OLD to become the most decorated Olympic equestrian medalist ever. Her score was 89.071 percent, and like the others in the top three, her artistic score was over 90.
But no one came close to Valegro’s 97.714 for that mark, and he was the only one to hit 90 for technical merit. Charlotte and “Blueberry,” as he is known, were the second pair at this Olympics to repeat their London 2012 individual success. Germany’s Michael Jung took his second straight individual gold on Sam in eventing last week.
Though it was expected that Charlotte would be at the top of the podium again, and two Germans would take the other places (world number one Kristina Broring-Sprehe earned the bronze with Desperados on 87.142), there was plenty of excitement in this finals.
The USA’s Laura Graves, who clinched bronze for her team last week with her unwavering ride on Verdades, produced another spectacular performance during her Olympic debut to wind up fourth on 85.196 for a test that got an 88.429 artistic rating, with 81.964 for technical merit. It was her third personal best at these Games.
It was a great Olympics for the U.S.dressage contingent, with Steffen Peters winding up 12th on Legolas and Allison Brock 15th on Rosevelt. It was her first Olympic appearance.
One of the biggest surprises was Spain’s Severo Jesus Jurado Lopez of Spain, fifth on Lorenzo (ahead of Germany’s Dorothee Schneider and Showtime FRH). His 83.553 percent performance ended with passage down the centerline that he rode one-handed, as a delighted crowd clapped in rhythm to his music.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 12, 2016
When I find myself in a difficult position, wanting to give up, I will think of Laura Graves and her determination as she went in to the arena in Rio this afternoon to claim bronze for the USA, the first dressage team medal since 2004 for the country.
It was a must-do moment. She and Verdades were cool and delivered, a score of 80.364 that put the U.S. over the Netherlands in a very tight, tough race. The Dutch were handicapped by not having a drop score when Parzival dropped out the other day after suffering ill effects from an insect bite, but that’s the way things go in both sport and life.
Coach Robert Dover had a vision of this moment for years, and he made it come true with the help of Debbie McDonald, who was the developing dressage coach (really like the assistant senior coach) and then the personal coach of Laura and Kasey Perry-Glass (Dublet). Veterans Steffen Peters and Legolas also stood strong for the team, as did Allison Brock–like every team member except Steffen–in her first Olympics. She rode Rosevelt and was coached by Michael Barisone.
The U.S. bronze medal dressage team: Allison Brock, Laura Graves, Kasey Perry, Steffen Peters. (Photo by Shannon Brinkman)
Laura has been a study in persistence ever since she got Diddy as an unruly weanling. Through fall after fall, and even one that broke her back, she persisted and established a relationship with the 14-year-old son of Florett As. It has paid off over the years, but never as much as today, when her horse’s talent and her nerves of steel ruled the arena.
Germany won the gold by a mile with 82.577 percent, followed by Britain (77.951)–even with a less-than-perfect performance by Valegro with Charlotte Dujardin up. The U.S. had 76.363, not so far from silver, while the Dutch were fourth on 74.991.
Isabell Werth topped the Special on Wiehegold OLD with 83.711 percent. Her team gold makes her the most decorated Olympic equestrian athlete ever. Charlotte stood second with 83.025 even with a break into the first half pass, scored at a lowly 3.7, not the sort of score you associate with the horse that holds every world dressage record.
Laura’s fifth place matched her final mark at the 2014 World Equestrian Games, when she burst upon the world scene to a chorus of, “Who is that?” There is still a chance to better that mark on Monday, when the freestyle is held for individual honors, with the top 18 competing. Steffen made the cut at 14th. Allie just missed it, finishing 19th. Kasey wound up 22d.
“We’ve captured the elusive 80 percent – it does exist,” said a thrilled Laura, who was one of only five riders to score above 80 percent.
“I knew the test was going well, but you just always hope that your reflections match up with the judges. I had no idea going into the ring what I needed for a score and to see my teammates so happy and then to achieve my personal best score–and a score I’ve been reaching for–was just icing on our cake today.”
If you want to see highlights of the Grand Prix Special, go to MSNBC at 5:15 p.m. today.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 11, 2016
The U.S. climbed to third place (76.971) in the team rankings in Rio, with bravura performances by its last two riders under pressure, Steffen Peters with Legolas (77.614) now standing sixth individually, and anchor Laura Graves on Verdades (78.071), fifth.
Legs behaved himself and was good in his bogey movement, the one-tempis. Things look bright going into Friday’s Grand Prix Special, which will decide the medals.
“It’s going to be a tight, tight horse race, so to speak,” commented Steffen, but he notes team spirit has helped boost the USA.
“There’s so much camaraderie on our team. We’ve been training together for three months, and every day, we all watch each other. Every day we come to the barn and there is a big group hug.”
Laura and Diddy got 9’s for pirouttes and passage, balancing 5.9 in the one-tempis and 6.3 for a less-than-perfect lead change out of the zig-zags.
Laura Graves and Verdades have a special relationship. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
“My horse was really super,” said Laura, who is coached by Olympian Debbie McDonald.
“I’m very happy with the feeling he gave me today and the way the training is reflecting in the arena.I’m really happy with the pirouettes and the passage-piaffe, which is a talent for this horse, but not so much in the arena when he’s not sure where to be with his big legs. I feel that’s really improved in the last two months.”
The other team members, Allison Brock (Rosevelt) and Kasey Perry-Glass (Dublet) who rode on the first day of the Grand Prix, also will compete in the Special
Of course, Germany was dominant, with a team mark of 81.295. Britain was able to soar into second among the teams with Valegro’s 85.071 to put the Brits at 79.252. The world record holder in everything GP dressage got bouquets of 10s from the judges for movements from halt/salute to pirouette and extended trot.
This is likely Valegro’s last competitive outing. Why not go out when you’re ahead? Expect a big retirement ceremony at London’s Olympia show. Then maybe he’ll be performing exhibitions, but it won’t be the same without the giant of the sport.
The Netherlands is without the advantage of a drop score after Adelinde Cornelissen retired Parzival yesterday when the 19-year-old horse suffered ill-effects of a bug bite. So the Dutch stand just behind the U.S. on 76.043, which means the U.S. team has to continue to produce top scores for the GPS if they want to fulfill their dreams and stand on the podium. Sweden (75.319) and Denmark (74.270) make up the rest of the six teams that will field all their riders in the GPS, along with the top eight individuals who are not part of a qualified team.
After the GPS, the top 18 will go for the individual medals. If Valegro keeps up his side, he should win his second straight individual Olympic gold medal with Charlotte Dujardin. Hard to believe Britain had never won a dressage medal until it took double gold at the 2012 Games.
World Number one Kristina Broring-Sprehe of Germany on Desperados stands second with an 82.257, even with a 6.4 for her horse’s not ideal zig-zag. Right behind in third was her teammate, Isabell Werth on Weiheigold, with 81.029 as her country’s anchor rider. Depending on how she does in Rio, world number two Isabell is poised to overtake the Olympic medal record of Germany’s legendary Reiner Klimke (whose daughter, Ingrid, was on Germany’s silver medal eventing team in Rio).
Standing fourth is yet another German, Dorothee Schneider on Showtime, world number three. They were marked at 80.986. Figure the individual silver and bronze medals will belong to two of those three Germans.
It was nice to see the stands with a few more people today. The weather was better and the top riders of each team were going, so that was the lure, although as I’ve said, Brazil isn’t a GP dressage country. It finished 10th of 11 teams.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 10, 2016
You may have thought things would calm down once eventing moved out of the Deodoro Equestrian Center and the spotlight shifted to Grand Prix dressage, but no.
The biggest surprise of the day was Adelinde Cornelissen’s decision to retire from the ring partway through her ride with the 19-year-old Parzival, leaving the Dutch with a three-member team, no drop score and a real job to take the bronze medal they were predicted to win.
The horse had a bad reaction to an insect bite, and after treatment it was decided he should go for it. But it wasn’t working and Adelinde retired early in her test. I remembered when he was eliminated for blood in the mouth at the 2010 WEG, and it was a bit of deja vu today to see him sadly leaving the ring.
Germany was as predicted, with Dorothee Schneider and the lovely Showtime getting the only score over 80 percent, 80.986, with Sonke Rothenberger, the youngest on the team fairly close behind aboard Cosmo at 77.329. That brought up another memory, his parents on the podium at the Atlanta Games 20 years ago.
Germany leads with an average of 79.157 percent, while Britain is at 74.921 after Fiona Bigwood finished third on 66.157 with Orthilia. Her score and that of Spencer Wilton on Super Nova, tied for seventh on 72.686, might be a case of “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet” after Brits Carl Hester (Nip Tuck) and Charlotte Dujardin (Valegro) get finished tomorrow on the second day of GP dressage.
The USA’s Olympic debutantes were great. Allison Brock and Rosevelt tied with Spencer, while Kasey Perry-Glass is an amazing fifth with Dublet on 75.229. She was right behind Holland’s Edward Gal with Glock’s Voice, not quite where I expected him to be at 75.251. His total is the only one counting for the Netherlands at the moment, which technically puts the Dutch second or definitely not, if you average it with the non-score of Adelinde..
Kasey-Perry Glass and Dublet had the high score for the U.S. on Wednesday. (Photo copyright Shannon Brinkman)
The U.S., which has an average of 73.357 for fourth (or third, depending on how you consider the Netherlands is, of course, aspiring to the podium that many felt would be dominated by Germany, Britain and the Dutch. As I said in my preview, I saw the Dutch as the weak link, which might enable the U.S. to grab the bronze. But watch out for Sweden, at 73.357. Denmark is sixth at 71.064.
After the second half of the team riders go on Thursday, the top six squads will compete for the medals on Friday in the Grand Prix Special. The standings could change drastically on Thursday, as such strong contenders as Steffen Peters and Laura Graves for the U.S. and Beatriz Ferrer-Salat for Spain have their turn.
Not many people were in the stands on a dull gray day, but then, GP Dressage isn’t a big sport in Brazil.
There was news on the show jumping front as France’s Simon Delestre dropped out following the revelation that his mount, Ryan, had a microfracture of his hock. As number two in the world, Simon was a powerful medal weapon for his homeland. He’s being replaced by Olympic veteran Philippe Rozier.
I hope you’ve been following my tweets at twitter.com@nancyjaffer. I’ll be at it again tomorrow, so check in with me.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 9, 2016
Few things in the Rio Olympic eventing competition have played out exactly as planned, but one important medal did, with individual gold going as expected to the (insert your own superlative here, fabulous is mine) Michael Jung of Germany and his stalwart mount, Sam.
They defended their title from London 2012, becoming only the third back-to-back winners of eventing Olympic gold in the history of the Games. They both are excellent in every phase and an incredible pleasure to watch.
Interestingly, Sam was Michael’s second choice for Rio. I was surprised at Rolex Kentucky when he told me Fischer Takinou was his first option for the Games, but after that horse got sick, he was back to 16-year-old Sam. And Sam, he had told me a year earlier, is his favorite horse.
And now everyone could see why. A doll in the dressage, even though he wasn’t first in that segment, he added nothing to his score through a tremendously influential cross-country course, a challenging first round of show jumping today and then the final round of show jumping, finishing on 40.9 penalties.
Despite a pole down and 2 time penalties, France’s Nicolas Astier and Piaf de B’Neville took the silver on 48, while the USA’s Phillip Dutton earned his first individual medal, the bronze, after six Olympics and two team golds for his birth nation, Australia.
Phillip wasn’t aboard the team’s first choice for him. But when Fernhill Cubalawn had to bow out, Happy (as Mighty Nice is known) was there to fill in. With a rail in the individual jumping, his score was 51.8, just ahead of Australia’s Sam Griffiths and Paulank Brockagh (53.1).
Sam’s countryman, Christopher Burton on 9-year-old Santano II was second after dressage to Britain’s William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning, but moved up to first after cross-country as a refusal and time dropped William down the ranks to 22d. Chris was first after cross-country and third after this morning’s first jumping round, but two poles pulled in the afternoon landed him in fifth place for the final standings.
Double clear today put miracle William (recovered from a critical head injury suffered last year) into 12th place. It wasn’t the medal the British rider had sought, but still, who would have thought he’d even be competing in Rio after an accident from which a lesser man would still be recovering?
Boyd Martin, the only other U.S. rider coming through to show jumping, dealt well with a tired Blackfoot Mystery, an ex-racehorse who did others of his former profession proud. He wound up 16th with two poles in the first round this morning and three this afternoon. Boyd and the horse are a good match; they both gave all they had to give.
Mark Todd of New Zealand, the last person to win back-to-back eventing gold (1984 and 1988 with Charisma), was in sight of a medal after cross-country, but dropped to 11th after four rails with Leonidas II in the team jumping, where his nation gave up its medal hopes. At 60, he was hoping for a medal. That obviously didn’t work out, for him or the Kiwi team, but he made a terrific comeback in the individual round that put him seventh.
At the Pan American Games last year, I was impressed by Brazil eventing team member Ruy Fonseca’s sportsmanship when he lost gold with a knockdown by his horse, Tom Bombadil, at the last fence. Today, he did that one better. When Tom stopped at a jump and bumped down a rail, Ruy tumbled over his head. Unfazed, he stood, smiled and cheerfully replaced the errant pole in the cups. Cool guy.
Guilherme Jorge, who will design the grand prix show jumping courses later in the Games, made the route shorter for the second round today (these horses have done a LOT of jumping, after all) and the time allowed was more lenient than in the morning.
I will be keeping an eye on Grand Prix dressage starting tomorrow, so follow my comments on Twitter.com@nancyjaffer and return to nancyjaffer.com for another story in the On the Rail section.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 9, 2016
The team eventing at Rio ended with France (169 penalties) getting its second-ever Olympic gold medal in the sport (the first was 2004), as New Zealand dropped out of contention with, surprisingly, four rails from Sir Mark Todd.
Australia’s leading man, Chris Burton, had two rails with the 9-year-old Santano II as his team claimed the bronze (175.3) rather than gold as a result, while the usual flawless clear from Germany’s defending individual champ Michael Jung and Sam boosted that nation to silver (172.8) after consecutive team golds at the last two Olympics.
The tight 80-second time allowed on the course designed by the brilliant Guilherme Jorge of Brazil caused problems, as riders pressed their horses to make it and often slid rails in the process.
The top 25 are coming back this afternoon to jump for individual medals. Unlike the world championships, the Olympic criteria will not allow two medals to be given for one effort; hence the second jumping round for individual honors. Just what horses need after a grueling cross-country.
The U.S. did not finish a team after Clark Montgomery and Lauren Kieffer’s problems on yesterday’s cross-country, but Phillip Dutton had only 1 time penalty this morning on Mighty Nice and remains in contention for individual honors, standing fourth with 47.8 penalties, a mere 2.2–less than a rail–behind Chris Burton. Michael Jung leads the way to defend his 2012 title on 40.9 penalties, while Nicholas Astier of France is third with 45.6 after his clean round. Boyd Martin is coming back, too, with Blackfoot Mystery, but the ex-racehorse had two rails in the morning session which leaves him at 58.9 in seventh place.
Other team placings were New Zealand (178.8), fourth; Britain (252.10), fifth; Netherlands (252.6) sixth and Brazil (280.9) seventh with huge support from fans for their home country. Good on them for finishing ahead of such strong eventing countries as Ireland, Canada and the U.S. Only the U.S. and Russia failed to finish without three riders completing through cross-country. The Russians had just three riders to begin with, and one didn’t start cross-country.
I will keep you posted; check back later this afternoon and meanwhile, I’ll log a running commentary with my posts on twitter.com@nancyjaffer.
