9/10 wins for the German Dressage Team at the Olympics

Germany has won the Dressage Team gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics with the magic combination of Dorothee Schneider, Isabell Werth and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl. In second place, the USA team and bronze for Great Britain. 

The German triplet has won nine out of the last 10 stagings at the Olympic event and have continued their record at the Baji Koen Equestrian Park. Combinations formed by Schneider and Showtime, Werth competing on mare Bella Rose and Von Bredow-Werndl and Dalera were impossible to beat for the other seven nations at the Grand Prix Special. 

A new Olympic record mark

Von Bredow-Werndl and Dalera scored an Olympic record mark of 84.666 during one of the performances. This allowed Germany to score a combined 8.178 that was clear from the scores of the USA team (7,747) and Great Britain (7,723). 

Von Bredow-Werndl is ranked No.2 in the world, and her and TSF Dalera BB scored a relaxed performance. With this, Isabell Werth has now scored her 11th medal competing, receiving her first Olympic medal in Barcelona 29 years ago. She is the first equestrian to win six Olympic golds.

“I was so lucky that I had my two teammates before me. They had both produced such high percentages that there was not so much pressure. It’s the best team I could wish for!” -Von Bredow-Werndl

Podium positions were unclear 

After the first two rounds team Germany were in the lead chased by Great Britain and the United States. However, both Dorothee Schneider with Showtime FRH and Isabell Werth with Bella Rose 2 scored above 80%, clearing the gap into the last round. 

Even if Germany was a clear winner at the Team Dressage, the other podium positions were not decided. The final round began with Portugal’s Rodrigo Torres and Fogoso who earned high scores for their piaffe and were awarded 74.726 from the judges. 

Next up, Therese Nilshagen of Sweden and Dante Weltino OLD earned 75.988 from the seven judges, a score that was not beaten by Spanish rider Beatriz Ferrer-Salat and Elegance with 74.894 ponts. 

Edward Gal of the Netherlands and Total US showed their great potential earning a score of 79.894 percent, much higher than Cathrine Dufour of Denmark with Bohemian. The pair scored 77.720 percent.

Pressure was on Sabine Schut-Kery and Sanceo of the United States. If they scored above a 75.2 they would land the US on the podium over Denmark. The pair was able to surpass expectations with an incredible 81.596 that also laid down the opportunities for Great Britain to earn the silver medal. 

Eyes on Charlotte Dujardin’s Gio

Charlotte Dujardin who won individual dressage gold in 2012 and 2016 with Valegro was in the spotlight as  Dujardin’s new partner Gio is only 10 years old. Uncertainty on whether the horse could perform to his successors’ standards filled the audience. 

The combo proved to be fit for each other as they maintained perfect focus and incredible transitions throughout the test. However, an error in the tempi cost them enough points to finish behind the Americans. Their final score was 79.544 percent. 

The new changes in the Olympic format meant that only three riders competed per team instead of four, so there was no dropped score in case of a bad performance. This raised the expectations from all team members in the dressage teams who executed their performances in the Grand Prix Special with music they could choose for the first time. 

The nine Team medalists will be performing on the final day of Dressage together with nine other pairs of horse and rider for the world’s best equestrian title on Wednesday.