Photo: Jon Stroud Media
Sophie Wells has won her second gold medal in the Grade V Individual Freestyle at the World Equestrian Games.
‘Bit stressed’
Sophie and Charlotte Hogg’s C Fatal Attraction produced a magnificent performance to score a much-deserved 80.755% and take the title. Dutch rider Frank Hosmar (Alphaville N.O.P) won his second silver medal on 79.155%, ahead of Japan’s Tomoko Nakamura (Djazz F) in bronze position on 73.540 %.
“He was a little bit tense today and on edge, but he’s come out this week and given me everything,” said Sophie. “I was a little bit stressed last night as I thought it may be too difficult and we have only done it once at Hartpury, but he’s come out and made me very proud.
Sophie’s medal takes her total tally of individual golds for Great Britain at senior championships to an incredible 12. The 28-year-old missed out on gold at WEG 2014 and was delighted to reclaim the title this year.
‘Felt amazing’
“When you miss out on an individual gold after training every day it’s hard, but to achieve this after a big gap like I’ve had is amazing,” she said. “That’s why Rio 2016 was so special, because I missed out on gold in London 2012 too!”
The final day of para-dressage also saw Natasha Baker and Erin Orford compete in the Freestyle Grade III. First to go was Erin with Annabel Whittet’s Dior, who gained her place in the competition following an earlier withdrawal. Erin produced a lovely test to finish on a score of 71.073% – missing out on a medal by less than 1%.
“I was so pleased with her today, she felt amazing,” said Erin. “She’s grown in confidence this week and today she went in there and said ‘OK I’m ready, what do you want me to do’.
“I had a new freestyle music made for here and a technical issue meant we didn’t get to ride to it, which was a massive shame. To finish within 0.8% of bronze and 2% of silver, despite this, just proves her quality and how close we are to the best in the world.”
Bruised ego
Natasha soon followed with Mount St John Diva Dannebrog, but unfortunately she was unseated shortly after the beginning of the test, when the mare leapt forward and fly bucked. This resulted in elimination from the competition.
“My ego is bruised and my bum is bruised, but I feel fine and at least I hit the centre line!” Natasha joked. “I don’t know what got into her today, but it was out of character for her.
“We untacked her and cooled her down and we’re going to go and sit back on and see how she feels and give her some confidence back.”
Vaulting freestyle
The vaulting championships also came to a close, with the final freestyle of the team competition. Britain’s vaulting team finished in eighth place overall, in front of a packed indoor arena.
The team improved on their freestyle from the first round and were rewarded with a score of 7.255, which left them with a final overall total of 6.837 points.
“We’re all really pleased,” said team member Ricky Davies. “We felt that was much better than the first round. We all relaxed and got into the routine and performed it well. The atmosphere was louder today, but we had a lot of time to relax before we went in and I think we did really well. The crowd really showed their appreciation in there.”
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