Rebecca Hart pips Van der Horst to Para Dressage Grade III Individual Freestyle gold
Rebecca Hart (USA) joined team-mate Fiona Howard as a triple gold medallist at Paris 2024 as she and Floratina triumphed in an enthralling finale to the Para Dressage at Château de Versailles.
Rixt van der Horst (NED), partnering Royal Fonq, had set a challenging target of 83.007% but ultimately had to settle for a third successive silver medal of these Paralympic Games. Natasha Baker (GBR), on Dawn Chorus, scored 77.140% to earn her second Individual bronze of these Games and a 10th Paralympic Games medal overall.
Hart and her bay mare, going last, kept their nerve to score 83.534%, the highest individual score of the four days of competition in Versailles.
Hart rounded things off by clinching her second Individual gold with Floratina – and third overall including the Team event – in a tense finale to the Grade III Freestyle.
The 39-year-old and her bay mare, going last, kept their nerve to score 83.534%, the highest individual score of the four days of competition in Versailles.
“That was so wonderful,” said Hart. “I was a little concerned when we started cantering but I was like ‘she will come back to me, she always does’. It’s just electric. I told her she was fine. She went ‘are we OK?’ and I said ‘yes, we’re fine’ and she said, ‘OK, I trust you’ and it was such a magical moment. Then we hit the markers the way we needed to.”
It was tough on Van der Horst, who had posted a superb score of 83.007% with Royal Fonq but had to settle for a third successive silver medal at these Paralympic Games and a fifth overall, to go with three bronzes.
“It was not good for my heart,” she said of watching the final combination deny her gold. “I was so eager to get gold today and a bit disappointed it didn’t work out, but we can be really proud. Three silver medals is pretty good.”
Natasha Baker (GBR) also signed off with a second Individual bronze in Versailles on Dawn Chorus with a mark of 77.140%, and a 10th Paralympic Games medal overall.