Germany’s dressage queen Isabell Werth became her country’s most decorated Olympian on Saturday as she led her team to victory over Denmark and Britain in a closely fought battle.
Werth, 55, put in a strong performance and scored 79.89% in the dressage team finals, held in the Grand Prix Special format, with Wendy, a black mare she has trained for only six months.
Defending Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl later sealed the razor-thin win for Germany who got a total score of 235.79 points, ahead of Denmark with 235.67 and Britain on 232.49.
“No one can say that dressage is boring. It was really exciting to the very last point,” Werth told a press conference.
Asked about her own achievements she said: “I am really happy and proud about it ... Now we will take, hopefully soon, a little glass of wine or champagne, because we haven’t got any yet.”
Werth has become the most successful German in Olympic history with eight gold and five silver medals. She is also the most decorated rider and the first athlete to win medals in seven Olympic Games.
“Hats off to her. I never try and match Isabell. She is the undisputed queen of dressage”, said Britain’s Carl Hester, one of the last dressage greats of Werth’s generation still competing.
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The victory brings some relief to Germany, who so far have failed to deliver on expectations in most sports and are 10th in the medals table, as the Olympics head into their second week. Riders have won half of Germany’s four gold medals.
Britain’s chances took a hit when star rider Charlotte Dujardin was barred from the competition a few days before the Games over a video that showed her hitting a horse, reviving a debate over the sport’s ethics and Olympic future.
Speaking to reporters after his ride, veteran Hester said he was “excited and proud” of the good performance from his pupil Becky Moody, the young rider who stepped in to replace Dujardin.
Denmark’s Cathrine Dufour had the best individual performance with a score of 81.2% with MSJ Freestyle, a mare she took over from Dujardin a few years ago.
The Danish riders said the tight result, setting their team just 0.12 percentage points behind Germany after three rounds of jury votes, was a testament to how exciting their sport could be rather than a cause of frustration.
“It was mega fun sport today”, said Dufour. Her teammate Daniel Bachmann Andersen added: “If you flip the medal the right way, you can see there’s some gold in it.”
Germany has won 14 gold medals, or two-thirds of all those awarded in the dressage team competitions in the modern Olympics, including every gold since 1984 apart from 2012 when Britain snatched it on home turf.
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