The Hanoverian 09|2012 - the American Hanoverian Society!

10 The Hanoverian 09|2012
Sport
Marcus Ehning with his impeccable
style on For Pleasure by Furioso II/
Grannus: forth place in the individual
competition in Sydney. Photo: Ernst
Classical riding at the highest level:
Hubertus Schmidt on Wansuela suerte
by Warkant/Wachmann in Athens
2004. Photo: Ernst
moments at the beginning of the first round when
Franke Sloothaak has a fall with Joly Coeur. The
pressure is now on his team members Ludger Beerbaum/Ratina
Z, Lars Nieberg/For Pleasure and
Ulrich Kirchhoff/Jus de Pommes. Lars Nieberg and
Ludger Beerbaum impress with double clear
rounds. The German team wins with only 1,75 penalty
points ahead of the United States and Brazil.
Ulrich Kirchhoff then wins the final of the 40 best
competitors. German horse breeders are also the
winners at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Breeding
products from Germany stamped the dressage and
jumper championships like seldom before. 13
Olympic dressage competitors carried the Hanoverian
brand. Hanover has the strongest contingent
with 19 representatives even in jumping.
Sydney 2000: “The greatest Games of all
times”
When the aged IOC-President Antonio Samaranch
described the Sidney Olympic Games in 2000 as
the greatest Games of all times there were only a
very few to disagree. Just as in Atlanta there are
two competitions in eventing. The team competition
starts out positively for Germany. Marina Köhncke
on Sir Toby (bred in England) finishes without
penalty points. Nele Hagener on the Hanoverian
Little McMuffin by Lemon xx and Andreas Dibowski
on the Hanoverian Leonas Dancer are unable to
fulfill the expectations. Even though they have falls
and refusals they remain in the competition and
finish it. A good performance of Ingrid Klimke and
Sleep Late cannot save the team that has to be
satisfied with a disappointing forth place. Australia,
Great Britain and the United States carry the
medals home. The field of participants in the individual
competition is rather inhomogeneous. Blyth
Tait from New Zealand wins the gold medal with
Ready Teddy. In the dressage ring the performances
of the German and Dutch teams become more
and more similar in respect to quality that is higher
than ever before. Germany wins gold for the tenth
time; the Netherlands follows in second place. The
US-Americans win the bronze medal. Isabell Werth
on Gigolo, Nadine Capellmann on Farbenfroh as
well as Alexandra Simons-de Ridder on Chacomo
deliver excellent performances in the Grand Prix.
Ulla Salzgeber’s Rusty does not perform in accordance
with his ability. His result is the scratched
score. The duel for the individual medals between
Isabell Werth and Anky van Grunsven continues.
Both riders compete on 17-year old horses and
both horses enter their well-deserved retirement
after these Olympics. The performance of the Dutch
pair in the Grand Prix Special is the first step for
the outcome of who will win the individual gold
medal. A faultless and very harmonious freestyle
enlarges the lead for the Dutch pair even more.
Isabell Werth only has positive comments though,
“Today Gigolo and I did not loose the gold medal;
we won the silver medal instead.” Unfortunately
bad weather conditions impair the jumper classes.
The last participant literally decides the exciting
competition for the gold medal. Once the German
team members - Otto Becker/Dobel’s Cento, Ludger
Beerbaum/Goldfever, Marcus Ehning/For Pleasure
and Lars Nieberg/Loro Piana Esprit FRH –
have finished it looks very much like a French
victory as long as the last rider called Philippe Rozier
has a clear round. Three rails however bust the
hope for gold and once again team Germany becomes
the Olympic champion. The team from Switzerland
earns silver and Brazil takes the bronze
medal. The two Dutch competitors Jeroen Dubbeldam
and Albert Voorn earn individual medals together
with the largely unknown Khaled Al Eid
from Saudi-Arabia. Lars Nieberg and his Hanoverian
mount Esprit FRH show off their experience and
finish the individual competition in forth place together
with Marcus Ehning on For Pleasure and
Otto Becker on Cento.
Athens in 2004: brilliance and misery
A century of equine competition and breeding
ends six months before the anniversary of the German
Equestrian Association in Berlin with the
Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. The eventing
competition appears equivalent to a “Greek tragedy”.
The German team impresses with exceptional
performances in all part disciplines and earns the
Olympic gold medal rightfully so. Bettina Hoy and
her Irish grey Ringwood Cockatoo are in second
position after dressage and cross-country while
Ingrid Klimke and her English Thoroughbred Sleep
Late are in sixth position. The third team member
Frank Ostholt and his Hanoverian Air Jordan by
Amerigo Vespucci xx hold ninth place after dressage
and cross-country. Hinrich Romeike on Marius
and Andreas Dibowski on Little Lemon also
perform well. The best prerequisites to once again
win team gold 16 years after the success in Seoul!
Bettina Hoy and Hinrich Romeike complete the stadium
course without any faults; Andreas Dibowski
takes one rail down. The German team wins the
gold medal with this final result – at least that is
what everyone thinks! The cheering silences
quickly when the judging team punishes Bettina
Hoy with 14 penalty points for exceeding the time
limit. Supposedly she crossed the starting line twice.
This decision strongly impacts the final result
for the team competition: Germany finishes in
forth place behind France, Great Britain and the
United States. The German team leaders successfully
appeal with the Court of Arbitration. Once
gain cheering for winning Olympic gold! The day
after the individual competition the teams from