Sweden’s Louise Etzner Jakobsson earned the title ‘golden grandma’ after winning her first gold medal at 65 in a closely fought battle at the FEI Para Dressage European Championship in Ermelo, Netherlands.
It was a morning of nail-biting competition yesterday at the FEI Para Dressage Championship in Ermelo, with medals decided by the smallest of margins and inspiring performances across all grades.
Grade IV: A Golden Moment for Sweden
Louise Etzner Jakobsson of Sweden claimed her first championship gold medal at the age of 65, competing in Grade IV in front of her grandson who was there to witness her crowning moment.
Riding the extravagant Goldstrike B.J, the pair produced a soft yet expressive test to secure the top mark of 72.917%.
“He’s called Goldstrike, so it’s about time!” Louise said of her result with the 14-year-old Dutch warmblood gelding, whom she has owned for almost five years. “I’m very pleased, I don’t think it has sunk in yet. It will take a while to understand what I have achieved with my horse.
“We’ve been working on our trot work for a couple of years now, and that’s the best part of yesterday – he’s been so much stronger and now we can trot with more cadence. The canter work has always been very good, but yesterday he really did so well.”
Less than a mark behind Louise was Denmark’s Pia Wulff Jelstrup riding Zafia to a championship personal best score of 72.222% to take the silver medal.
“It’s our best performance in this programme, it felt so harmonious, and she was with me the whole way round,” she beamed. “We’ve had a lot of problems with her halts in the past, but all three were outstanding. We’ve been working towards this for two years and yesterday it finally came together for us.”
Britain Continues Bronze Medal Success
Great Britain is making a habit of winning bronze medals at this year’s championship, with Nicola Naylor claiming the nation’s third bronze of the competition. Riding Humberto L at their first championship together, the athlete was overjoyed with their result and first experience in the arena.
“To go in there and have a solid test where he felt happy was my goal. We really went in with that aim of enjoying our moment and I’m so pleased that’s what we got,” Nicola said of the 13-year-old Dutch warmblood gelding.
“His canter work was breathtaking, the other highlight was that he stayed soft and he felt on-side, which is great for his first time in that environment.”
Grade V: Germany Wins by Smallest Margin
In another thrilling battle for the title, it was the smallest of margins that saw Germany’s Regine Mispelkamp top the podium in the Grade V individual competition, beating the Netherlands’ Britney de Jong by just 0.025 marks – one of the closest wins witnessed in recent Para Dressage Championships.
“I’m so happy with the mare, she was concentrating so hard for me, and we were together the whole test. She gave me a really strong walk, and her canter felt so uphill and forward,” Regine said of her rising star, Pramwaldhof’s Bayala.
The 10-year-old Oldenburg mare is new to championship level, and Regine felt this year was her time to shine.
“I wanted to give her the experience of a championship so that she can learn, but I never expected this result. I came into this competition thinking that Britney will be the European champion. But now, we are the winners! I can’t put it into words what this means, I’ll need some time to process it.”
Team Competition Begins Today
Today sees the start of the team competition and individual freestyle qualification, with all athletes riding the Para Grand Prix B test.
The order of competition was drawn yesterday evening, with Grade III starting at 10:00 as Katie McKenna and D.C.I Cerruti represent Ireland. Belgium, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Italy all field team riders in this grade.
Grade II follows at 12:45, with newly crowned individual champions Heidemarie Dresing and Poesie 143 going down the centre line for Germany, followed by Great Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Norway and the Netherlands.
Grade I will close out the day, starting with Norway’s Jens Lasse Dokkan and Aladdin at 14:30. Italy, Great Britain and Ireland are all represented by team riders in this grade.
If yesterday’s competition is anything to go by, the rest of the championship promises to be just as nail-biting, and indicative of how far Para Dressage has come
