Germany Wins Olympic Team Gold, Britain Silver & USA Bronze In Most Dramatic Finish In Dressage History

Olympic dressage medal teams on the podium–Germany (gold), Great Britain silver) and USA bronze. © 2016 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 12, 2016–Germany's most powerful team ever won Olympic dressage gold adding to Isabell Werth's treasure trove, defending Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin led Britain to silver while Laura Graves on Verdades produced a stunning performance to assure the United States the bronze and the nation's first Olympic medal since 2004.

The showdown between Germany, Great Britain, the United States and the Netherlands was so dramatic that the final medals outcome did not become clear until Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro as the last combination in the Grand Prix Special could not quite catch the Germans with three 80 percent pairs as they had in the Grand Prix.

Isabell Werth rode Weihegold OLD to the top score of 83.711 per cent and earned her ninth Olympic medal, six golds and three silvers, that equals the number won by Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands as the most decorated equestrian Olympian.

More to come

Results:

Team

RANK	TEAM		RESULT
1	GER	Germany	82.577
2	GBR	Great Britain	77.937
3	USA	United States	76.363
4	NED	Netherlands	74.991
5	SWE	Sweden	74.370
6	DEN	Denmark	74.346

Individual

RANK	ATHLETE		HORSE	RESULT
1	GER	WERTH Isabell	WEIHEGOLD OLD	83.711Qualified (for Freestyle
2	GBR	DUJARDIN Charlotte	VALEGRO	82.983Qualified
3	GER	SCHNEIDER Dorothee	SHOWTIME FRH	82.619Qualified
4	GER	BRORING-SPREHE Kristina	DESPERADOS FRH	81.401Qualified
5	USA	GRAVES Laura	VERDADES	80.644Qualified
6	ESP	JURADO LOPEZ Severo Jesus	LORENZO	77.479Qualified
7	SWE	WILHELMSSON SILFVEN Tinne	DON AURELIO	77.199Qualified
8	ESP	FERRER-SALAT Beatriz	DELGADO	76.863Qualified
9	GBR	HESTER Carl	NIP TUCK	76.485Qualified
10	GER	ROTHENBERGER Sonke	COSMO	76.261
11	NED	VAN SILFHOUT Diederik	ARLANDO	76.092Qualified
12	DEN	DUFOUR Cathrine	CASSIDY	76.050Qualified
13	NED	MINDERHOUD Hans Peter	JOHNSON	75.224Qualified
14	USA	PETERS Steffen	LEGOLAS 92	74.622Qualified
15	DEN	KASPRZAK Anna	DONNPERIGNON	74.524Qualified
16	GBR	BIGWOOD Fiona	ORTHILIA	74.342Qualified
17	IRL	REYNOLDS Judy	VANCOUVER K	74.090Qualified
18	SWE	KITTEL Patrik	DEJA	73.866Qualified
19	USA	BROCK Allison M.	ROSEVELT	73.824Qualified
20	NED	GAL Edward	VOICE	73.655
21	GBR	WILTON Spencer	SUPER NOVA II	73.613
22	USA	PERRY-GLASS Kasey	DUBLET	73.235
23	RUS	MERKULOVA Inessa	MISTER X	73.154
24	SUI	KRINKE SUSMELJ Marcela	MOLBERG	72.885
25	FRA	TEBAR Karen	DON LUIS	72.773
26	DEN	KIRK THINGGAARD Agnete	JOJO AZ	72.465
27	CAN	TRUSSELL Belinda	ANTON	72.325
28	SWE	RAMEL Juliette	BURIEL K.H.	72.045
29	SWE	HENDELIOWITZ Mads	JIMMIE CHOO SEQ	71.681
30	DEN	DAHL Anders	SELTEN HW	71.232
31	FRA	VOLLA Pierre	BADINDA ALTENA	65.742