Who was expected to win a medal?
The dressage format at the Paris Games was the same as in Tokyo, with the grand prix special test being used to decide the Olympic dressage team medals. The individual medals were awarded after the freestyle.
With 15 teams of three riders taking part, Germany, Britain and Denmark were expected to be fighting it out for team medals, and the results followed expectations with those three countries finishing on the podium.
Did Britain have a good chance of winning a medal?
We predicted that Great Britain hasd a good chance to win both team and individual medals in the Olympic dressage competition, which proved to be correct with team and individual bronze.
What’s the Olympic dressage competition format?
The Olympic dressage competition comprised the grand prix, grand prix special and grand prix freestyle to music. The grand prix acted solely as a qualifier for the special and the freestyle. The team medals were awarded based on the results of the grand prix special, while the freestyle decided the individual medals.
How many riders in an Olympic dressage team?
There were three horse and rider combinations in each team with all scores to count, plus one reserve (alternate) who could be substituted in on veterinary or medical grounds up until two hours before the team final — which was the grand prix special.
Who was judging the Olympic dressage in Paris?
The seven dressage judges at the Paris Olympics were:
• Raphael Saleh (FRA) - president of the ground jury
• Henning Lehrmann (GER)
• Isobel Wessels (GBR)
• Mariette Sanders (NED)
• Magnus Ringmark (SWE)
• Michael Osinski (USA)
• Susanne Baarup (DEN)
Who were the other dressage officials in Paris?
Italy’s Vincenzo Truppa was the technical delegate with Britain’s Dan Chapman as chief dressage steward and Belgium’s Didier Deschauwer as dressage steward. The overall chief steward was Cesar Hirsch from Venezuela.
The three members of the judging supervisory panel members were Britain’s Andrew Gardner, Mary Seefried of Australia, and Henk van Bergen from the Netherlands.
The first reserve judge was Austria’s Thomas Lang and the second reserve was Maria Colliander from Finland.
Essential reading
• H&H’s beginners’ guide: what is dressage at the Olympics
• H&H’s expert guide to the Olympic dressage format
Who won the Olympic dressage medals in Tokyo 2020?
Team gold: Germany
Team silver: United States
Team bronze: Great Britain
Individual gold: Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (GER)
Individual silver: Isabell Werth (GER)
Individual bronze: Charlotte Dujardin (GBR)
When did dressage become an Olympic sport?
Dressage was first seen in the Olympics in the 1912 Games in Stockholm with only men allowed to compete. This restriction was lifted in 1951 and the Helsinki Games in 1952 was the first to see women in the saddle. Denmark’s Lis Hartel became the first female Olympic equestrian and the first female medalist winning individual silver. Her achievement was all the more impressive because she was paralysed from the knee down as a result of contracting polio.
