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Countdown to Beijing '08 - Equestrian
// USOC Media Services // September 22, 2006
Outlook
The U.S. Equestrian Team had an outstanding 2004 Olympic Games in Athens with every athlete on the team, in all three disciplines, coming home with a medal. The record of five medals, Team Gold and Individual Silver in Show Jumping; Team Bronze and Individual Silver in Three Day Eventing; and Team Bronze in Dressage, will be tough to beat in 2008 but at this early date the prospects for medal-winning performances at the equestrian venue in Hong Kong look promising.
In Equestrian, the talent of horses as well as their human riders is a deciding factor in who is selected for the team and who stays home. A horse is considered young at age nine and veteran international stars are frequently 15 to 17 years old. Equestrians are generally among the oldest athletes at the Olympic Games, as it takes decades to train and rise to the top of the sport. Team members usually range between 30 and 50 years old.
Three Day Eventing
The entire squad of six for WEG will be finalized just prior to the start of the Games, but candidates for the team include 2004 Olympians and team bronze medalists Kim Severson, 33, of Keene, Va., and her Olympic Mount Winsome Adante, and firefighter Amy Tryon, 36, of Duval, Wash., on her Olympic horse, a former race horse turned mountain pack horse she purchased from a newspaper classified ad, Poggio II. Severson was the Individual Silver Medalist in Athens. Multiple-Olympic veteran Karen O’Connor, 48, of The Plains, Va., is vying for a spot on the team, as is 2004 Olympic Team alternate Will Faudree, 25, of Southern Pines, N.C. Faudree was a member of the gold medal team at the 2003 Pan American Championships. New Olympic level talent is also emerging as potential WEG team members. These include Bonnie Mosser, 44, of Kennett Square, Pa.; Heidi White, 41, of Aiken, S.C.; Jan Byyny of Purcellville, Va.; and Stephan Bradley of Leesburg, Va. Both Bradley and Byyny were members of the 2003 Gold Medal winning team at the Pan American Games. Bradley was only the second American in history to win the famous Burghley Three Day Event in Great Britain in 1993 and in 1996 he won the prestigious Kentucky Three Day event.
At this point, the biggest challengers to the U.S team in Hong Kong are expected to be Australia, fielding their powerful multiple Olympians Andrew Hoy and Phillip Dutton, as well as Germany, France, Great Britain and New Zealand.
Dressage
At the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain the U.S Dressage team brought home a silver medal, and at the 2004 Olympic Games they earned Team Bronze. The United States remains a strong contender in the international dressage ranks and looks toward Hong Kong with strong medal hopes. The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and more recently Denmark, always field strong dressage teams and are again expected to be the major challengers to U.S. medal hopes.
The team for the World Games in Aachen will not be announced until August 14 but much like Eventing both Olympic veterans and newcomers are hoping for a spot on the squad. Two members of the bronze medal team from Athens and their Olympic horses are contenders, Guenter Seidel, 46, of Cardiff, California on the powerful gray gelding Aragon, and Debbie McDonald, 52, on the feminine diva, Brentina. Steffen Peters, 42, of San Diego, California and the fiery gelding Floriano, the team alternates from Athens, had a brilliant performance at the recent WEG Selection Trials, securing them a spot on the team. As the road to Hong Kong progresses new faces could emerge and several are currently up-and-comers contending for a berth for WEG. They include Leslie Morse, 45, of Beverly Hills, California, who has been knocking at the Olympic team door since 2004, and her stallion Tip Top. She also has another outstanding stallion, Kingston who may be the more talented of her two rides. Arlene “Tuny” Page, 50, of Wellington, Fla., has quickly risen through the rigors of international level competition with her young and highly talented gelding Wild One. An American competing in Europe, Catherine Haddad, 42, based in Vecta, Germany, is also one to watch with her gelding Maximus. Others to keep an eye on are 39-year-old Heather Blitz of Palm City, Fla. and 48-year-old Suzanne Danby Phelps, of Atlanta, Ga.
Show Jumping
The United States’ rivalry with Germany is becoming something of legend. Halfway through the 2006 Samsung Super League, the most prestigious season-long Show Jumping league in the world, the U.S is in second place behind Germany. The U.S. team decisively won the 2005 Super League last year, and their road to that Super League crown included a major defeat of the Germans on their home turf in Aachen. Only eight international teams compete in the Super League and the U.S. win came much as a surprise to the other all-European teams. At the 2004 Olympic Games, the U.S. was awarded the Team Gold post-Games when the German team was disqualified.
Chef d’Equipe George Morris took over leadership of the team in 2005 and many credit his leadership and iron will to win with our rapid success in the Super League during his short tenure. He has his sights set on medals of only one color: gold. The show jumping team of four for WEG has been announced and is totally comprised of former Olympians. From the 2004 Athens team, Beezie Madden, 43, of Cazenovia, N.Y., and her Olympic mount Authentic join McLain Ward, 31, of Brewster, N.Y., and his Olympic horse, Sapphire. Two riders from the 2000 Olympic squad at Sydney round out the team: Laura Kraut, 41, and Margie Engle, 48, both from Wellington, Fla. The alternate is Jeffrey Welles of Ridgefield, Conn., who clinched the Super League win last year for the U.S. Team with a flawless double round ride in Barcelona, earning him the honor of “USATODAY.com’s U.S. Olympic Athlete of the Week.”
At both the upcoming WEG and in Hong Kong 2008 the U.S. Show Jumping team expects strong challenges from the perennial powerhouse Germany, and other European teams with strong show jumping traditions, including Great Britain. On an individual level, Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil remains one of the world’s great show jumping equestrians and is always a threat.
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