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United
States Wins Dressage Silver Medal at World Equestrian
Games 2002
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Jerez
de la Frontera, Spain–September 12, 2002–The United
States won the Silver Medal in the Team Dressage competition,
at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
on Thursday with a combined score of 5527. Germany won the Gold
Medal scoring 5642 and the home team of Spain won the bronze,
much to the crowd’s delight, with a score of 5403.
The
U.S. squad consisted of Debbie McDonald of Hailey, ID on Brentina,
owned by Perry & Peggy Thomas; Lisa Wilcox of Thousand Oaks,
CA riding Relevant, owned by Gundula Vorwerk and Dr. Claus Crone-Munzebrock;
Susan Blinks of Wellington, FL, riding Flim Flam owned by Fritz
Kundrun and Dressage Sponsor Corporation and Guenter Seidel of
Del Mar, CA on Nikolaus 7, owned by Dick and Jane Brown.
This
marks the best finish for a United States dressage team in any
World Championship or Olympic Games. United States Equestrian
Team (USET) Chef d’Equipe Jessica Ransehousen felt it was
worth the wait.
“It’s
a fulfillment of a huge wonderful dream,” said Ransehousen.
“We’ve fought and fought for years to get what we’ve
gotten here today. Thankfully we have had an organization like
the United States Equestrian Team to help us become better and
enable us to get the job done.”
All
four riders on the squad credited the USET’s decision to
hire Klaus Balkenhol as coach in 2001 as part of the reason for
the improved performance.
“Klaus
makes us feel confident,” said Blinks. “We are a close
knit team and everyone of us is now in a stronger place.”
The
top 25 riders move on to the next round of individual competition,
the Grand Prix Special, that takes place on Friday. The US has
three in the top ten and all four in the top 25. Debbie McDonald
currently stands third individually, Lisa Wilcox is in fifth and
Susan Blinks is in seventh and Guenter Seidel is in thirteenth.
The top 15 from the Grand Prix Special qualify to ride in the
Freestyle competition on Sunday which determines the individual
medals.
The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization
that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest
possible standard to represent our country in major international
competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships.
To accomplish this, the USET seeks out and nurtures the development
of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides
the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest
potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908)
234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org
.
