Tokyo 2020 Individual Dressage Final: Charlotte Dujardin Takes Bronze
In the Tokyo 2020 Individual dressage final, Charlotte Dujardin takes bronze to become the most decorated British female olympian of all time!
Charlotte was the last to go for Team GB, taking young and inexperienced, Gio onto the Olympic stage.
The pair had enchanted the judges and audience with their energetic, bouncy presence in the arena. Already taking team bronze with team mates, Carl Hester and Lottie Fry, the pair had very chance of earning another medal.
Starting strong with an incredible piaffe, their routine was filled with piaffe-pirouettes and canter pirouettes, rocketing their difficulty score upwards.
Completing their freestyle test to a delicate, etherial composition, the music matched the duo’s calm and collected approach.
In only Gio’s sixth ever International Grand Prix level test, two of those being at this year’s Olympics, the pressure was on.
Continuing through the test, Charlotte and Gio managed to keep their cool with a relaxed free walk and effortless single-time changes.
Staying consistent, they finished with a strong passage and piaffe combination and a score of 88.543%. Not only does the score come as a new personal best for the combination but also score’s Charlotte her sixth Olympic medal; the most won by any female British olympian.
However, their score was not enough to top Team Germany’s score. Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera won individual gold in her Olympic debut. She topped her idol and team mate’s, Isabell Werth, score who placed second.
Extremely well deserved, the gold and silver medallist exuded confidence both finishing one-handed and increasing the difficulty marks on their test. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl finished on a score of 91.732% to take gold. Isabell Werth finished with a score of 89.657%.
Meanwhile, Team GB’s Carl Hester and En Vogue placed 8th with a cleverly composed and expertly executed piece. Lottie Fry finished in 13th after an unfortunate spook by Everdale interrupted her bold but calm performance.
Header Image; Charlotte Dujardin and Gio at Tokyo 2020 (FEI/Christophe Taniere)
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Reporting on equestrian news stories, Abby also produces a variety of engaging content for the magazine.