The times for the British dressage riders in the grand prix freestyle at the Olympics have been revealed. Tomorrow (Monday, 15 August) in Rio, Charlotte Dujardin will be defending her individual dressage gold medal from the London Games.
She finished second individually to Germany’s Isabell Werth in the grand prix special on 12 August — the first time she and Valegro have been beaten since Aachen in July 2014.
Her performance was still good enough to claim team silver for the Brits. Three riders from the UK are through to the individual final, the freestyle to music, or kür.
British riders’ start times:
Fiona Bigwood and Orthilia 10.30am (2.30pm UK time)
Carl Hester and Nip Tuck 11.35 (3.35pm UK time)
Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro 12.40 (4.40pm UK time)
The silver medallists from the London Games, Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival will not defend their medal. They retired during the grand prix as Parzival was suffering the after-effects of an insect bite. The Netherlands did not have a travelling reserve.
Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD have been drawn last in the competition, and ride at 1.20pm (5.20pm).
Continued below…
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Her compatriot Kristina Bröring-Sprehe also rides in the final group. With her De Niro stallion Desperados FRH, she came close to beating Charlotte at the European Championships in Aachen last year, finishing second.
As well as Charlotte, Isabell and Kristina, the final group of riders includes Dorothee Schneider (for Germany on Showtime FRH), Severo Jurado Lopez (on Lorenzo for Spain) and the USA’s Laura Graves on Verdadaes.
The first rider into the arena is Steffen Peters on Legolas at 10am (2pm UK time).
