A world record under the new FEI degree of difficulty evaluation system was set by Dufour when she achieved all nines in technical scores across the panel of international judges.
The crowd at Scandinavium was on its feet after she gave her final salute, clapping in unison in support of her breathtaking achievements at such a youthful age.
Dufour’s score became the one to beat, as the final few competitors walked the ramp from the warm-up ring into the arena, what feels to many like entering Rome’s ancient Colosseum.
FEI World Cup™ Dressage defending champion, Isabell Werth, of Germany, the most successful Equestrian Olympian of all time, turned in her usual stellar performance aboard Emilio 107, but couldn’t quite catch Dufour with a score of 85.380, landing her in second place.
Home favourite Patrik Kittel, of Sweden, tried to best Dufour’s ride as well, but to no avail.
On Delaunay Old, for whom he created a unique rock-and-roll programme to music by Guns ‘N Roses, Kittel had a few issues with transitions, and with no joker line to fix a previous mistake with his one tempi, he had to settle for third place and a score of 83.635.
Always just happy to be riding freestyle, Kittel left the ring grinning and managed to hold onto his lead in the World Cup standings heading to Paris in April.
Jessica Von Bredow Werndl, of Germany, also held onto her third-place ranking, in spite of having to kindly retire her horse when she couldn’t bring him back after a bad spook - a reminder that it’s always two hearts in the ring in equestrian sports, which makes competition doubly challenging.
