Australia has officially secured a place in the Paris 2024 Olympics with the qualification of their dressage team at the Grand Prix at World Championships in Herning, Denmark. With the top six ranked teams receiving an automatic bid to Paris, Australia had some work to do in order to earn a spot. The team performed well placing eighth out of 19 nations.
Australia was the highest ranked country to emerge from Group G over Oceania and South East Asia to earn the quota for Paris. Paris will mark the first time Australia has made it to the Olympics in Dressage since London 2012. With the team being a mix of new and experienced riders spread across a talented field, the team was proud of their performance.
Australian Dressage Team Chef d’Equipe Deb MacNicol said the team admirably represented Australia in the arena.
“The team delivered three confident and solid performances in the Grand Prix, and it is fantastic that they were awarded scores which secured Australia a team quota place for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. We are all very proud of the entire team.”
Simone Pearce and Fiderdance scored a 72.584 which came as a bit of surprise considering the two have only been paired for two months.
“This is my third show with him so hopefully we live and we learn and we improve for next time,” Pearce said following the test. “He was a little bit overwhelmed by the atmosphere and not himself today. We did the best we could. Working with horses that’s how it is, some days it is good and others it is challenging.”
It seems as though nerves got the best of several of Australia’s horses. Lyndal Oatley’s grey Eros performed great on day one of Dressage, but on day two, he was belled off by the judges who believed him to be lame. After being checked out by the veterinarian, he was deemed healthy and Oatley chalked it up to nerves.
Jayden Brown and Wallinga Park Sky Diamond scored a 69.674 only missing 70 due to a few mistakes brought on by inexperience. The score was still a strong one for a young horse and rider who are relatively new on the scene.
“I have been riding him for two years,” Brown said. “I took him on when he was just coming out of Prix St. Georges and have taken him into Grand Prix. This is only his fifth international Grand Prix, so he is pretty inexperienced but he makes up for it in his good temperament and he is a real trier.”
Mary Hanna had the most disappointing day as the team’s most experienced rider when her horse, Calanta, went lame. Luckily, Hanna put the team first and shoved her disappointment down in order to cheer on those team members who still had to perform.
With plenty of time left before Paris 2024, the Australian team will be able to continue to train both the riders and horses and work out any nerves or kinks ahead of the Olympics. The best finish Australia has seen in team Dressage was a sixth place finish in Sydney 2000, so they will definitely be looking to improve upon that and find a place on the podium.
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