Today’s Grand Prix Special competition will decide the dressage team medals in Rio. Following the first two days of Grand Prix tests, Germany sits in the gold medal position with 81.295%, but the Brits are close on their heels in silver with 79.252%. So can the Brits claim a second consecutive team gold medal?
It’s certainly going to be close. The Germans have been spectacularly consistent in Brazil, with Kristina Broring-Sprehe (Desperados FRH), Isabell Werth (Weihegold OLD) and Dorothee Schneider (Showtime FRH) holding second, third and fourth place individually after the Grand Prix.
Their discount score, the 77.329% produced by Sonke Rothenberger, was still good enough to put him into seventh place individually. For that to be Germany’s drop score, it shows how strong the team is and just how hard they’ll be to beat.
Second placed Kristina Broring-Sprehe dazzled on Desperados, but she said a few mistakes had crept in – so she could go even higher in the scorelines today. “In the piaffe we lost rhythm and there was a mistake in the zig-zag. I’m very proud of him. It was his first time on a flight coming here and he was a bit nervous at first but he’s really happy here now,” she said.
Her team mate, the multiple-gold medallist Isabell Werth, feels confident ahead of today’s team final. “If there is no drama, which we all know can happen, we will hopefully take home the gold,” she said.
Britain’s Fiona Bigwood finished the Grand Prix in eighth place on 77.157% with Orthilia, while Carl Hester sits in 15th on Nip Tuck. But such was the strength of golden girl Charlotte Dujardin’s performance on Valegro, nearly three percent ahead of her nearest rival, it still keeps Britain in contention for gold.
The scores carry forward to today’s Special, so Britain have got some ground to make up. But there is some hope for Team GB fans. If Nip Tuck is more settled today and can avoid any spooking, he is more than capable of scoring in the high-70s, having produced a 79.216% in his last Grand Prix Special at Hartpury CDI.
“He is probably the biggest horse here, but he has the heart of a mouse!” said Hester after his test. “He is good with noise but very visual. It was probably something ridiculous that spooked him, like a flower moving in a pot – maybe he needs glasses! He went fantastic all week and we had ten minutes in the arena this morning and he was totally relaxed. He had me completely fooled, I didn’t expect this and I’m gutted.”
Equally, Charlotte holds the world record for the Special (and the Grand Prix, and the Freestyle…) with a score of 88.022%. It’s an awful lot to expect the pair to produce that kind of result in an Olympic situation, especially with the pressure of riding on a team, but Valegro at his best is more than capable of a giant score.
And pressure doesn’t seem to affect the cool-headed Dujardin very much. The rider, who famously described London 2012 as ‘just another centreline’, was relaxed and happy after her Grand Prix test. “I can’t help but smile when I ride Valegro. Today I didn’t even have to ask him to do a thing, he just did it himself! He enjoyed it and it felt easy, he just tries his heart out,” she said.
So that is our best hope – strong performances from all the Brits, and spectacular from Charlotte and Valegro, to pull ahead of the ultra-consistent German side.
There’s also a looming challenge from the USA in bronze medal position – they’re more than two percent in arrears at the moment but they’ve been on great form this Games, holding fifth, sixth and 17th to go ahead of the Dutch, reigning European Champions, who are in fourth.
However today’s competition plays out, winning an Olympic medal – of any colour – is a momentous achievement. Even at recent Games, Britain was always one of the teams trying to get through to the Grand Prix Special, now we are in with a fighting chance of a second Team Gold.
Team GB’s dressage team has medalled every year since 2009, and barring disaster, we’ll do so again today. It’s only a small step up onto that Olympic podium in Rio, but a gigantic step when you consider just how far British Dressage has come.
Full results here
Spencer Wilton rides at 6.20pm, Fiona Bigwood at 7.02pm, Carl Hester at 7.29pm and Charlotte Dujardin at 7.56pm.