Wednesday, 31 July 2024
Day two of Grand Prix dressage, set against the stunning backdrop of the Palace of Versailles, started with the remnants of the night’s storms having cleared to give way to more beautiful sunshine. The Grand Prix is the vital qualifying class for both the team and individual competitions and, by the end of the day, those spots in the medal rounds would be settled.
Team GB rider Charlotte Fry, riding in her second Games after making her debut in Tokyo 2020, opened proceedings in Group D with her World Championship double gold medallist Glamourdale, owned by her employers Van Olst Horses and herself. Going first isn’t always the ideal, but today it certainly seemed a slight advantage to get into the arena before the temperature began to rise.
The powerhouse duo started brightly with an obvious focus on the task ahead. There was a slight miscommunication in halt and rein-back where the steps just weren’t perhaps as clean as the judges would like to see, but they were soon back to amassing good marks and trending around 80%. In the canter work tour, ‘Glammy’ really shines and the changes were pure joy to watch, the pirouettes were tight and the party piece extended canter had the wow-factor. A good square halt ended the ideal qualifying test – the duo had produced a correct, pleasing performance to score 78.913%, which on paper would be enough to secure both qualification places, but also have left enough in the tank to up the power next time out. Even on three-quarters power, the test boasted five 10s, four from the extended canter.
“To go first on day two is always a little bit more challenging, but he was absolutely incredible in there,” said a delighted Lottie. “I had a great ride, a great feeling, and he just loved it. I think you could see that by his face at the end when everyone is cheering for him. He just loved every second of it, and was taking it all in. It's really an honour to ride down the centre line at the Olympics in Paris and I think what we've done has put us in a really good place as a team.
“We had a little moment in the rein-back, which was a shame, but apart from that, I couldn't fault it – he really gave everything. He's improved a lot, he's got much stronger, and when he was in there, he just performed at his best, and I couldn't ask much more.”
With a great score on the board, a long wait lay ahead for Lottie to see where that score put her individually and, importantly, as a team for Great Britain. At the end of Group D, one of the most hotly anticipated of the two days, Lottie and Glammy finished third behind Denmark’s Catherine Laudrup-Dufour with Freestyle – who proved one of just two combinations to break the 80% barrier on 80.792% – and Isabell Werth, competing at her seventh Olympic Games with Wendy with 79.363%. This meant that Lottie, like Carl Hester, would now have to wait until the end of Group F to see if they managed a top-six finish in the highest scorers outside of those gaining direct qualification by finishing first or second in their group.
As the day wore on, Britain’s position in both the individual and team looked more and more positive and, by the time the final combination – the red hot favourites for the individual title, Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera – produced an unrivaled 82.065%, it was clear that it was mission complete for the British.
Overall, Lottie and Glamourdale were fourth, Carl Hester and Fame seventh and Becky Moody with Jagerbomb 11th, and their final status qualifies them for the Grand Prix Freestyle for the individual medals. The team finished a very convincing third, which secures their place in Saturday’s Grand Prix Special, which the riders are looking forward to.
Lottie explained; “I know that for the weekend, we have a lot left in the tank, and I didn't want to peak too soon, so we've done what we need to do today and I feel like we can really bring some more in the Special and the Freestyle. My plan for the Special is to come with a little more expression, a little more energy and just perform with a very happy athlete and do our best, do what we can on the day in the arena – you can't do more than that.
“I think medals are always kind of in your thoughts, but my main priority is that we do what we can – we have a good test and, whatever happens, we're at the Olympics and we've got this far, so I just want to enjoy my ride.”
Lottie’s final word was left to the memory of her mum Laura, also an Olympian, who passed in 2014 and what it means to her; “Yeah, it's very special, especially now, to be at the Olympics. Of course, she's in my thoughts a lot while I'm here – she's still a huge inspiration and really drives me to be better every day,” she said.
Tomorrow it’s the turn of our jumping trio of Scott Brash, Harry Charles and Ben Maher to get a first taste of competition in the arena at Versailles as they get their team medal campaign underway in the qualifying competition from 10.00am (BST).
Full results and times for tomorrow can be found on Olympic.org and read our ‘how to watch’ guide for all your viewing information.