Bronze for Britain

Carl Hester, Lottie Fry and Charlotte Dujardin pull out all the stops in a Tokyo thriller

- ELEANOR JONES

IT was team bronze for Britain in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic dressage – which star performer Charlotte Dujardin said was as good as gold.

In keeping with the British team’s 10-year record of finishing on the podium at every major championship, Charlotte on Gio, Carl Hester on En Vogue and Olympic debutante Lottie Fry on Everdale finished a whisker off the silver medal, just pipped at the last minute by the US team, with Germany taking their 14th Olympic team dressage gold.

Britain – fielding three horses making their championship debut – had been hot on Germany’s heels at the start of Tuesday’s (27 July) grand prix special competition.

Carl had pulled out all the stops to ride a beautiful test, keeping 12-year-old En Vogue calm enough to perform at his best, scoring 78.34%.

“Charlotte said, ‘You don’t have a choice, you have to go for it’,” said Carl. “I have struggled with his nerves and finding the right balance, but today, the cliché was true – he was a boy going in, and he came out a man tonight.”

Lottie also maintained her poise – despite an enthusiastic Everdale’s early slip into a canter – to score 76.85%.