When they write the full history of Para Dressage, 2018 will go down as one of the most momentous in the sport.
It was the year that saw new faces emerge on the winners’ podium – sometimes after years of trying – and the end, for now at least, of the dominance of Great Britain in the sport.
Christiansen, for example returned in style by taking three wins (team and both individuals) at the Deauville competition in France, a feat matched by teammate Sophie Wells.
Team USA started the year getting ready to host the FEI World Equestrian GamesTM (WEG), in Tryon, North Carolina. At the test competition there, sterling performances from Rebecca Hart suggested a good competition could lie ahead.
One of the breakout stars of the sport, Brazil’s Rodolpho Riskalla, also set out his stall ahead of WEG at the annual Maimarkt competition in Mannheim Germany, taking the top spot in both the Grade IV individual and team tests, with a third place in the freestyle.
But it was on September 21 that Para-Dressage was turned on its head. Having never lost the team competition at European, World or Paralympic level since the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, Great Britain found themselves in second place to their long-time closest rival, The Netherlands. The Dutch team – Sanne Voets, Nicole den Dulk, Rixt van der Horst, and Frank Hosmar – were dominant throughout the whole Games but their team win was the sweetest of all.
Dutch Chef d’equipe Joyce Heuitink said: “It’s been a dream since I started this job six years ago after London 2012. I’ve been full of tears for the last two days and I’m afraid I will break into tears when I stand on the podium.”
Voets and van der Horst became the first non-British riders to win three golds each at a major global competition taking all three titles in Grades IV and III respectively, while Denmark’s Stinna Tange Kaastrup built on her 2017 European titles by taking her first ever World golds in the Grade II individual and freestyles.
Brazil’s Riskalla came through on his pre-Games promise with two breakthrough silvers behind Sanne Voets in the Grade IV competition. Japan’s Tomoko Nakamura won a bronze – a real breakthrough for her ahead of Tokyo 2020.
The most emotional moment of 2018 must be the two golds that Italy’s Sara Morganti won in WEG’s Grade I contest. Before the Games she said she wasn’t sure she would even fly to the USA, having been so devastated not to compete in Rio 2016 after her horse, Royal Delight, didn’t make it past the pre-competition vet inspection.
“I have so many emotions I can’t even describe,” she said after her freestyle win. “I didn’t dare to hope for two gold medals. It really is a dream come true.”
Words by Rob Howell
Images by Liz Gregg / Martin Dokoupil
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