Article
Dutch delight at Sha Tin
Dutch rider Anky van Grunsven guides Salinero through their individual dressage routine to take her third successive Olympic gold medal in the event on Tuesday.
Photo: K. Y. Cheng
Long-time rivals Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands and Germany's Isabell Werth danced the night away on their respective mounts, Salinero and Satchmo, at Sha Tin on Tuesday night.
In the end, after the music had faded away, it was Van Grunsven and her horse left in the spotlight – winning the gold medal in the individual dressage competition.
It was an unprecedented third successive Olympic gold for the 40-year-old Van Grunsven. She had won in Sydney in 2000 and in Athens four years ago.
"I can't believe it. It's almost like a fairytale to win three times in a row," said Van Grunsven, who finished on 78.68 percentage points, a commanding two points ahead of her long-time opponent Werth.
The outcome almost seemed inevitable once Van Grunsven and Salinero moved to her famous choreographed piece Dance of Devotion. She had won this year's Dressage World Cup with the same tune, and on Tuesday they moved as one again.
Werth had to once again settle for silver on 76.65, while German compatriot Heike Kemmer on Bonaparte took the bronze medal with a score of 74.455.
Hogging the limelight
An Olympic rivalry which has spanned 16 years once again resulted in Werth and Van Grunsven hogging the limelight in front of a capacity 18,000-strong crowd held spellbound by the sight of woman and horse in perfect harmony to the sound of music.
This was the second time Van Grunsven had won an Olympic gold medal on Salinero. In 2000, she rode Bonfire.
Despite the thrill of bagging her third gold medal, the Dutchwoman kept her feet on her ground and said it was unlikely she would compete in London in 2012.
"I don't think I'm going to come back. I won't make another gold medal run. I'm happy with three gold medals," said Van Grunsven, who earlier in the week had joked she might make another bid in 2012 if she found a suitable horse to match black beauty Salinero.
Werth, 39, had held a slender 0.240 per cent lead going into the final freestyle round where for the first time the 15 remaining competitors – from an original field of 47 – were judged on the precision and elegance of the movements to music.
Hopes dashed
But her hopes were dashed early into her 10-minute piece Hymn of Emotion when Satchmo spooked while doing a piaffe, and almost bucked. Werth managed to get him under control quickly and recovered superbly to finish with the second best score.
"He did it a few nights ago in the first round and he got scared again. He remembers it," said a crestfallen Werth. "Beside that mistake he performed beautifully, but that cost us the gold medal."
Third-placed Kemmer was also smiling.
"I felt great on my horse. It is a nice feeling to win an individual medal," she said.
Her bronze medal lifted Germany's overall tally in Hong Kong to two golds (eventing and team dressage), and Tuesday night's silver and bronze in the individual dressage.
But it was heartache for Steffen Peters of the United States, who seemed to have done enough on Ravel to an upbeat rendition of Love to Rock. But the five judges were unmoved and only gave him a mark of 76.500, which averaged with his earlier round score saw him finish on a total of 74.150 – 0.305 points behind Kemmer.
"I was in charge of my dream and it was awfully close," said Peters, still smiling despite the sad looks among the American camp.