Versailles, France – The U.S. Paralympic Dressage Team completed a tremendous first day of competition to begin their campaign at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. Three combinations took to the main stadium to compete in their first tests of the competition, capturing three individual medals in their respective grades. Rebecca Hart aboard Floratina, and Fiona Howard with Diamond Dunes, both earned individual gold, while Roxanne Trunnell and Fan Tastico H finished with individual silver.
“I’m just ecstatic about today, truly. This is the result of a long strategic plan which included sizable goals, not just technical goals, but also called for a much stronger approach to collaboration with the athletes,” explained Chef d’Equipe Michel Assouline. “We really made it a focus to campaign in Europe before the Games. That was one of the biggest new additions to our strategic plan was focusing on a European spring. We needed to get more exposure in front of the top judges in Europe, which is something we’ve never prioritized before. It’s only the first day though and the work is not done. We must commit to maintaining this form. We still need to choose the team and stay focused on continuing to build these scores through to the end of the week.”
Team veteran Rebecca Hart (Wellington, Fla.) in her fifth Paralympic Games appearance set the tone early in Grade III competition with Floratina, a 2008 Hanoverian mare (Fidertanz x Rubina) owned by Rowan O’Riley and cared for by Mackenzie Young, going late in the order in the class and earning a personal best score of 77.900% for individual gold. Their top-place finish in Grade III marks Hart’s first-ever individual Paralympic medal of her dedicated career. The duo looked perfectly in flow with one another and relaxed, with expressive movement throughout their test, finishing with one of their best rides in their biggest moment of the year.
“From how hard we fought in Tokyo for that bronze medal, and then over the last four years, our team has developed so much; we’ve put in so much work, and to have it actually come together in the moment, in the ring, on the day that we needed it to be surreal,” she said. “I couldn’t have asked for more, and to get a personal best and a gold medal at the Paralympics is just—I feel like I’m in a dream. I feel like I’m going to have to wake up here in a minute.”
Following Hart, Fiona Howard (Boston, Mass.), who is competing in her first Paralympic Games for the United States in Paris, found an early forward rhythm with Diamond Dunes, a 2013 Hanoverian gelding (De L’or x Wibella) owned by Dressage Family LLC and Hof Kasselmann and cared for by Helen Claire McNulty. The pair were calm and collected throughout their Grade II FEI Grand Prix Test A, marking the second personal-best score of the day for Team USA, as the pair were awarded a 76.931% from the judging panel. Howard and Diamond Dunes had one slight bobble midway through their test but recovered quickly to keep their score well on track to earn impressive marks across the board to best the class.
“Diamond Dunes is amazing; he really tries so hard for me,” Howard said. “This is obviously the biggest atmosphere I’ve ever taken him in, and I just really went in there and was like, ‘I trust you,’ and he was like, ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got you.’ He gave me confidence throughout the whole test. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to do my first Paralympic Games on.”
With the final ride of the day for the U.S. team, Roxanne Trunnell (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Fan Tastico H were poised and confident in an extremely competitive Grade I division featuring 22 other international combinations. Trunnell is a returning individual medalist from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, but this time with a new mount in Paris, riding the 2017 Oldenburg gelding (Fuersentball OLD x Weltmeyer) owned by Karin Flint and cared for by Rafael Hernandez-Carillo. Trunnell and Fan Tastico H produced a forward and rhymical and smooth test throughout their walk work in the FEI Grand Prix Test A for Grade I. The duo, who have only been partnered since January, laid down their best test of the year, capping a day of personal bests for the team, securing a 78.000%, marking their highest score in Test A of their career together.
“He was right with me today. He has more movement through his body, so I needed to keep him forward. He’s very young and continues to impress all of us. He’s a very good boy and today was a good start for us,” said Trunnell.
Kate Shoemaker (Wellington, Fla.) and Vianne will compete tomorrow in Grade IV FEI Grand Prix Test A at 11:58 a.m. GMT+2/5:58 a.m. ET as the final individual combination for the U.S. before the start of team competition on Friday, September 6.
Results
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