Team Germany Wins Gold by a Hair's Breadth at 2024 Olympic Games

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

Germany claimed the team gold medal in a thrilling team final at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, in which they pipped Team Denmark by a hair's breadth.  With only 0.121 points less Denmark captured a historic Olympic team silver medal, while Tokyo's bronze medal winners - Great Britain - were back on bronze this year. 

Thriler

The team competition was contested by the Grand Prix Special for which ten nations qualified through the Grand Prix on 30 - 31 July 2024. 

In the GP Special on Saturday 3 August 2024 thirty riders from 10 nations competed and they were split up in three groups of ten. The board continued to be re-shuffled after each group as initially Great Britain took the lead, but after group two Germany was in charge, and retained that top position after group three with Denmark right on their heels. 

With the three-per team format and no drop score available it was a thrilling finals in which every ride counted. Several trends were to be noticed. In the first group combinations continued on best form and achieved new personal record scores. In group two some veteran team riders made significant mistakes or lacked finesse in their riding. Their lower than usual scores caused a reshuffling of the leader board. Some horses appeared a bit tired, or just had enough of the long Olympic week. It started for them on Friday 26 July and many were trained and tweaked heavily (often twice a day to great lengths) to find the ultimate competition form. Although the weather was perfect today with a breeze and 24 C° a few horses struggled, while others thrived. 

Standout Performances

Before we start talking about the podium place-getters, several standout performances have to be noted.

Team Belgium achieved a historic, and record setting fifth team place, positioning itself amongst the great dressage nations and ahead of home nation France. For the first time in 100 years Belgium directly qualified a team for the Olympics at the 2023 Europeans in Riesenbeck (in Tokyo they also had a team, but got the spot after other teams dropped out). Domien Michiels posted a second personal best of the week of 72.386% as his 16-year old Belgian warmblood Intermezzo van het Meerdaalhof (by Gribaldi x Balzflug) is like red wine, getting better with age. Belgium's long-time strong hold Larissa Pauluis and Flambeau (by Ampere x Zeoliet) could not deliver today and landed under the 70% marker with 69.179% but third team member and team rookie, 31-year old Flore De Winne, made up for that by posting her personal record score of 74.149% on the talented 10-year old Hanoverian stallion Flynn (by Fahrenheit x Sir Oldenburg) who excels in the passage and canter work.

Sweden had quite an off day today with two of its most experienced team horses, 17-year old Dante Weltino and 18-year old Buriel KH, unable to reproduce their stellar form of past years. Swedish team captain Bo Jena received much criticism for selecting such "old" and seasoned horses on his team instead of giving young rising Swedish stars a chance (Lexner with Inoraline, Maria von Essen with Invoice) as a team medal was not immediately within grasp. The detractors were proven right today. Juliette Ramel and her piaffe-passage star Buriel landed on 68.830%, while Therese Nilshagen still got 69.650% for a mistake filled test. Patrik Kittel could not save the day with his 74.331% on Touchdown. Team Sweden slotted in seventh, ahead of Finland, Austria and Australia.

The Dutch team was predicted to finish fourth in the team ranking which they did, but the gap with the number three was much greater than anticipated. They were no less than 11,444 percentage points behind Great Britain. Team anchor Dinja van Liere fulfilled the brief on 12-year old KWPN stallion Hermes (by Easy Game x Flemmingh), even though the temperamental bay was a bit too sharp on the aids, kicking to the spur in the canter strike off and twice showing a very edgy piaffe in which that same left hind leg was ready to explode. They posted 77.720% which ranked them sixth individually in the test. Hans Peter Minderhoud and the 13-year old Hanoverian stallion Toto Jr (by Totilas x Desperados) performed along the expectations and placed 16th with 72.644%. Emmelie Scholtens and the handsome 11-year old KWPN stallion Indian Rock (by Apache x Vivaldi) were not on the same wavelength today and with three big mistakes in the test, it was a surprise they still stayed above 70%. They landed 21st place with 70.684% (their low score was 68.617%, their high score still a 72.234%). Scholtens will get a chance again tomorrow to up her game in the freestyle for which she qualified through the Grand Prix.

Germany is Golden, But Freestyle Beat Dalera

The gold went to team Germany although it was Great Britain who kicked off the day with the lead after group one. British Becky Moody forged a top score aboard her home bred Jagerbomb (by Dante Weltino x Jazz) of 76.489% while Germany's first rider, Frederic Wandres aboard the 14-year old Oldenburg Bluetooth (by Bordeaux x Riccione) finished behind her on 75.942%. The passage was not always as regular, but the canter half passes and two tempi changes were outstanding. Problems with double beats in the right pirouette affected his score. 

After group two Germany held a 1.3% lead over Denmark with Isabell Werth working her magic on mare Wendy (by Sezuan x Soprano). Come to think of it, in the past decade Isabell's most successful, medal winning horses have been mares: Weihegold, Bella Rose and now Wendy.  Werth is the most decorated dressage rider in the word for a reason and it is mind blowing to see how she can improve a horse week after week. At the CDIO Aachen she already showed tremendous progress on Wendy, who was produced and competed at Grand Prix level by Danish horse dealer Andreas Helgstrand before the mare moved into her barn in January 2024.

In the Olympic Grand Prix she was a little less on point than in Aachen (yet the judges generously scored the horse nonetheless). Today Werth and Wendy showed flashes of excellence! The control over the tempo and rhythm is phenomenal and mare really looked much more comfortable and confident in the piaffe and passage. The trot extensions were better with more overtrack achieved, but in passage she at times swung the hindleg out from under the body and the final pi-pa on the centerline was crooked to the right (that piaffe earned her between 8.5 and 10). The collected walk had a dodgy rhythm (5.5 - 7.5 !!), the right pirouette was uber-collected with very short strides. In the tempi changes Wendy tends to make shorter changes behind to the left and there was a mistake in the ones.  The one tempi changes on the diagonal were very straight though. The end halt was stretched again (6.5 - 8). For the record, the ground jury included Raphael Saleh (FRA), Magnus Ringmark (SWE), Mariette Sanders (NED), Henning Lehrmann (GER), Michael Osinski (USA), Isobel Wessels (GBR) and Susanne Baarup (DEN).

As last rider to go reigning Olympic and European champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and the 17-year old Trakehner mare Dalera (by Easy Game x Handryk) had a big task to complete as they needed to score 79.82% to keep Germany on the golden step of the podium. With an unbroken streak of victories since 2021 in every single class they competed in, Dalera only once scored below 80% and that was a winning 79.922% in the Grand Prix at the 2023 World Cup Finals. The pair established themselves as the one to beat in Paris by winning the Grand Prix three days ago with 82.065%, but today things did not go as planned. They started with a square halt that was narrow in front, the first trot extension was ground covering and energetic. The passage was regular and bouncy. In the half pass right however she swung the left hindleg far out, and the nose slowly crept a fraction behind the vertical. The extended walk had good overtrack, but then the collected walk became problematic. The mare was not properly collected, became deep and long (scores between 5 - 6) and then missed the transition into piaffe and twice made a hop and skip in the rhythm. That piaffe still scored between 6.5 and 8, while the transition into and out of that piaffe got between 5 and 7. Jessica's continuous smile on her face immediately changed into a worrisome look, full focus not to let any other mistake happen. The second piaffe was much better, but Dalera visibly pressed her tongue out against the shank of the curb (with which Jessica maintains a very light often non-existent contact). The tongue also showed in the very well ridden two tempi changes. The ones were good, the extended canter expressive and powerful. The tongue was there again in the pirouette. The ones on the centerline were lovely, the left pirouette could have had a bit more striding. She dropped the rein right before the right pirouette but scrambled it together and still rode a lovely right pirouette. The final halt was not immediately square (8 - 9). They posted a total of 79.954% and placed between first and fifth with the judges (78.723% and 82.128%). Germany was golden, but Werndl was second in the test and will have to give it her all in the freestyle if she wants to collected her second consecutive Olympic title.

Historic Silver for Denmark

While Denmark has been a leading player on the international dressage scene for almost two decades, the country has only once won an Olympic team medal in dressage. This was in 2008 in Hong Kong with Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, Andreas Helgstrand, and Anne van Olst on the team. 

Today a new piece of history was written as Denmark collected silver in Versailles. Three team riders that won team gold at the 2022 World Championships in Herning, now got Olympic silver. Anchor is Cathrine Dufour who rides her third Olympics on a third horse, this time her own, Emma Blundell and the Zinglersen family's 15-year old Hanoverian mare Mount St. John Freestyle (by Fidermark x Donnerhall). The young partnership has been gelling over the last few months and the Olympics are their third international show.

In the Grand Prix the pair proved impressive form and harmony and they repeated that in the Special in which the sympathetic, effortless, calm and quiet outlook of the pair stood out. It all looked very simple. They started with a super entry and halt and a trot extension that was imbued with ease. In the right trot extension there could have been more overtrack, but the passage was very beautiful and springy. The piaffe-passage on the S-line was outstanding. The extended walk relaxed and clear. The two tempi changes were correct but could be more elastic, just like the ground covering extended canter that could have a little more uphill tendency still. There was a mistake in the one tempi changes. The biggest distraction in the ride is the mouth. Even though the entire muzzle seems dipped in sugar, the white froth cannot hide that Freestyle gapes more than regularly. Today Dufour seemed to have tried to fix the issue by riding with an even looser curb-chain which means that the shanks of the curb go horizontal and "fall through".. It didn't fix the problem, but I'm sure this will be a working point for the future. Aside from the mouth, the overall picture is a harmonious and flawless one, just like Werndl and Dalera also have contact issues, yet the horses seem happy and willing to do the job.  Dufour received the high score of the day : 81.216% to win the Special. All judges scored her over 80% with the "low" score being 80% and the high score 83.617%.

Team mate Nanna Skodborg Merrald and the 16-year old Oldenburg gelding Blue Hors Zepter (by Zack x Wolkentanz II) scored a little less and finished fifth on 78.480%. In the trot extensions the overstep could be greater, but the passage work was lovely, the extended walk very good with a clear V-moment in the rhythm. The piaffe-passage on the S-line was beautiful, but there was a mistake in the two's. The final centerline was well ridden although Zepter got wide in the piaffe at X. 

Daniel Bachmann Andersen had Rudolf Spiekermann's 13-year old Westfalian stallion Vayron (by Vitalis x Gloster) on better form today. He rode big trot and canter extensions, a bouncy half pass. The passage was more closed and under with the hindlegs. The piaffes were on the spot but at times crossing behind. The canter strike off from passage was difficult. There was a problem with the flying change after the canter half pass. The one tempi changes were fluent. Denmark's third contributing score was 75.973%. 

Bronze for Britain

In the absence of team anchor Charlotte Dujardin, the British team still firmly stood their ground and reclaimed Olympic bronze.

The team alternate rider, Becky Moody and Jagerbomb, did not disappoint and in the Special produced a brilliant ride in which correct horse training, careful and light riding and a soft and supple contact with the mouth stood out. The horse struggles with standing still though (the halt at entry scored between 5.5 and 7 for a halt that is not immobile. Also the end halt was not immobile and that got between 4 - 8 !!). The passage was so regular. The extended walk limited in overtrack. She rode a flawless piaffe-passage S-line and correct tempi changes. 

British team veteran Carl Hester saddled Fiona Bigwood's  14-year old KWPN stallion Fame (by Bordeaux x Rhodium) and kept the lid on the cooker although the bay stallion got quite tense at times. Carl rides the horse with a short and tight neck, but the contact appears supple and fair throughout. The left half pass was more elastic than the right one. There was a break in the rhythm after the left extended trot. The canter half passes were a highlight. The one tempi's were straight. The left pirouette had more sit than the right one. At all times, Hester remained calm and collected in the saddle, riding his horse with much precision through the movements. The piaffe at X was a fraction crooked to the right but had a nice rhythm going. They scored 76.520% 

Reigning World Champions Charlotte Fry and Gert-Jan van Olst's 13-year old KWPN stallion Glamourdale (by Lord Leatherdale x Negro) had the team high score of 79.483%. The halt at entry was not square, but the pair then impressed with big trot extensions and a good rhythm in the trot-passage work. The quality of the passage improved along the way. The horse was rather restless in the mouth and lips, but obediently carried out the job for his rider. The collected walk lacked collection and the first piaffe was small, in the second he back-stepped and almost stalled. The two tempi changes were huge, the ones big but they came off the diagonal more and more veering to the right. The pirouettes had good sit and the extended canter is always very uphill and powerful. Glamourdale lost the rhythm in the passage right before the final halt (6 - 8). The individual scores ranged from 77.234% to 80.638%.

Olympic dressage concludes on Sunday 4 August with the Kur to Music finals. 

- Text and Photos © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  

Eurodressage is taking photos of all competitors in Versailles. No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

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