The German dressage team lived up to its role of favorites and became Olympic champion. It is the second gold medal this Tuesday for the German Olympic team.
Isabell Werth was smiling even before the result was official. The 52-year-old record rider again celebrated Olympic gold with the German dressage dream team in Tokyo on Tuesday. Together with Dorothee Schneider from Framersheim and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl from Tuntenhausen, the Rheinberger won superiorly and already collected her seventh gold medal at the Olympic Games. Team silver went to the US trio ahead of Great Britain.
“We are a great team”, enthused Schneider and also praised: “Great horses, great riders!” The also 52-year-old start rider, who almost missed the Olympics due to a fall, showed a strong performance after a small mistake in the qualification in the Grand Prix Special. With Showtime she managed an almost flawless ride and the lead for her team.
Schneider: Showtime “wanted to get involved”
“I’m thrilled,” commented the first rider of the German trio. “I risked a lot,” she admitted. “I also had a mistake, but not as expensive as in the Grand Prix.” She praised her gelding Showtime: “He wanted to go, he wanted to get involved with me, he wanted to dance. It was fun today with this special, really special horse.”
Werth achieved an even better result than Schneider with her mare Bella Rose. “I’m really happy with Bella, she did a fantastic job,” commented the world’s most successful rider. The judges’ evaluation annoyed her and found it insufficient. “But why should I be angry?”
Bredow-Werndl makes the gold perfect
Rather, Werth was happy about the appearance of her horse, with whom she and Schneider at Showtime and von Bredow-Werndl at Dalera had already been part of the gold team in the USA three years ago. “She was incredibly relaxed,” enthused Werth about the mare. “It just felt great – and that’s the most important thing.”
Schneider and Werth were later able to watch how von Bredow-Werndl made the victory perfect as the third rider. The 35-year-old from Tuntenhausen in Bavaria kept her nerve. The last starter of the field safely steered her mare through the arena and made her colleagues smile.
14. Team gold at the Olympic Games
After a clear victory in qualifying at the weekend, the German team fully lived up to the high expectations. At the same time, the trio underlined the German dominance in this discipline. It was the 14th team gold for Germany at the Olympic Games.
On Wednesday, the German riders will be greeted with more precious metal. They are also counted among the top favorites in the individual freestyle. “We’ll see what happens,” said Werth, who can win her eighth gold. It would move up to first place in the German medal ranking, next to the canoeist Birgit Fischer, who has eight gold and four silver medals in her statistics.
All three riders with ambitions in the individual
“We’ll try to ride the best we can,” said Werth. “Then we fight.” Schneider also militantly expressed her ambitions in the individual. “I will definitely step on the gas,” announced the rider from Framersheim. Showtime “is motivated and has strength. I’ll attack again.”
At the last major event so far, Schneider won EM silver in the freestyle, just behind Werth. Bredow-Werndl, who was last defeated by Werth in the German Freestyle Championships, is expected to be right at the front on Wednesday.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
