Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Day two of the para equestrian action was met with brighter weather conditions – a blue sky did its best to push away the clouds so the impressive arena and stunning backdrop of the Palace of Versailles was bathed in early autumnal sunshine. Today’s individual medal action turned to Grades 4 and 5. There was no British interest in the Grade 4, where The Netherlands took a one-two with debutante Demi Haerkens claiming gold over veteran of four Games, Sanne Voets.
Nottinghamshire rider Sophie Wells landed in Paris for her fourth Paralympic Games, having made consecutive appearances for ParalympicsGB since her golden debut in London 2012. However, while she has a wealth of Games experience, her equine partner does not. At just eight years old, the Danish-bred LJT Egebjerggards Samoa, owned by The Lady Joseph Trust, is one of the youngest horses in the Grade 5 field and still in the dawn of her career at this level.
Sophie, who holds the world number one in the Grade 5 rankings, was due to partner the more experienced Don Cara M, owned by Rowland Kinch, but a minor setback in their final preparations led to the tough decision to bring the super-talented but inexperienced mare in the best interests of welfare. It was a similar scenario last year for the European Championships, when the young pretender ‘Diana’ had to step up, which she did with huge maturity under the expert guidance of Sophie. She, and her coaching team, including Carl Hester and Angela Weiss, have great belief in the raw talent and potential of the black mare.
The Grade 5 individual competition was presided over by a Ground Jury comprising Freddy Leyman (BEL), President, Suzanne Cunningham (AUS), Kristi Wyscoki (USA), Ineke Jansen (NED) and Anne Prain (FRA). Early in proceedings, Germany’s Regine Mispelkamp riding Highlander Delight’s had taken the early lead with 73.231%. Just two horses later, she was toppled by Sophie’s long-time rival, Michele George of Belgium. Michele has been building her equine partner, Best of 8, to peak at exactly this moment, having made their debut together at the FEI European Championships in 2019, with the scores rising with experience and an unbeaten record for this season.
Ever the professional, Michele rode the test of her life with the 14-year-old mare and gave the judges plenty to reward with great marks – the final tally was 76.692%, which was going to be a tough act to beat. First to go after the break, the Aussie rider Lisa Martin gave it great try to score 70.436%.
It was then the turn of Sophie Wells, who is the epitome of calm under pressure but, with an electric crowd and anticipation of a great finish building, she would have to do her best to manage her own nerves and those of her young charge. They started brightly, scoring a nine from one judge for the first halt, and appeared to have settled into on their task, with the mare’s ears flicking back and forth to take in her rider’s every subtle aid. The half-passes showed super flow and reach. The halt and rein-back had slight tension, but this is a movement that improves with experience and strength. Sophie played it safe in the first medium trot, but it was a really impressive trot tour overall.
The walk elements showed good relaxation and ground cover, and both half-pirouettes were well-executed. The canter work is a real highlight for Diana and today was no exception, with super uphill balance and great expression throughout. The final centreline gave way to an excellent halt, again getting a nine from one of the panel, to bring a great effort to a successful end. The crowd erupted to show their appreciation for the British duo’s performance.
The trending scores were below the target set by Michele George, so the chances of gold had gone, but could Sophie and Diana nudge towards Regine Mispekamp? Not quite, it was a final mark of 72.257%, so a percent off the silver, but it was enough to put them comfortably into bronze with three riders to come – it was going to be a nervous 20 minutes.
“I'm really glad it's done now,” said a relived Sophie after the test. “She was so brave. Going into that arena, she's really surprised me all week. She's been amazing in there in training but, obviously, you go in and there are quite a few people there. She just got a little bit nervous, but she's only eight years old. I held her hand through the whole test and she listened to me, and I couldn't be prouder of her for that. So, I'm very pleased and relieved it's finished.
“My aim was to get through to the freestyle. She's a really cool horse – I'm really lucky to ride her and I know that this is just touching on what she can do. So, after the first day, it's quite nice to settle the nerves a little bit and get her used to the crowd. She was really cool coming out, she was fine at that point. They started clapping a little bit early, but I was like, ‘guys, we’ve not saluted yet’. But, yeah, I’m so proud of her. She's a really cool little horse,” she continued.
What did the rider from Harby make of the late change of equine partner? “It's not ideal, it's not what you want to do,” she explained. “I was really disappointed for Don Cara's owners. He's a great horse and we haven't quite had that opportunity to really go for it.
“But at the same time, I'm so grateful to be here and to have the opportunity. I really wanted her happy in there and I don't think she was unhappy – I think she was just a bit nervous because there was lots of people watching, which is fine. That's OK,” she reflected.
The riders from Finland, Switzerland and Italy all gave it their best shot, but none could trouble the top eight, which meant Sophie had her ninth Paralympic medal – and her first ever bronze.
After the medal ceremony, she said; “I came in as wanting to qualify for the freestyle in the top eight. It's a really tough grade. I didn’t now where we were going to sit within the rest of the world and there's some great horses here, some great riders here, and you can never, obviously, take that for granted.
“I'm just so proud of her. I mean, she's eight years old, she's an incredible horse, and I know she will be the best horse in the world at some point. But, today, I needed to hold her hand around the test a little bit and give her a bit of confidence. I'm just so proud of her that she's held her nerve.
“The more I do the sport, the more emotional I get for each medal and the more grateful I get to ride the horses that I'm riding and the opportunities that I get coming here and showing off in an arena like this, so I'm incredibly proud,” she beamed.
After the individual tests across the five grades, ParalympicsGB has a total of three medals, all bronze. It’s Team USA who lead the way, also with three medals but two golds and one silver. The Netherlands also have three, but one gold and two silver, which puts both these teams among the favourites to top the team podium when the focus shifts to those medals on Friday.
Thursday is a rest day for the para equestrian action, but we’re back to Versailles on Friday for that all-important team medal day, which gets underway from 09.00 (BST). Team Leader Georgina Sharples has yet to name which of the quartet will make up trio to take on the top contenders for a place on the podium, so watch this space.
All the action can be watched on the Channel 4 Sport YouTube channel, with highlights in the evening as part of the mainstream Channel 4 evening show. Full times and results are available via the Paris 2024 website.