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All Riders Return Home With Medals
By Maria Partlow // U.S. Equestrian Federation // July 31, 2007
As they did in Athens in 2004, every equestrian athlete sent to Rio for the Pan Am Games came home with a medal. All 11 riders and their amazing horses took home some heavy metal to their homes State-side. Although the US Equestrian team had already qualified in all three sports – Dressage, Three-Day Eventing and Show Jumping – for the 2008 Olympic Games due to their performance at last year’s World Equestrian Games, they came ready for competition and a challenge. It was a chance for some new faces to get international experience in dressage and show jumping, while the Eventing squad boasted a wealth of international talent and experience on some horses “green” to the international competition scene.
The medal haul started out with Dressage when US riders Chris Hickey from Colora, Maryland riding Regent; Lauren Sammis of South Orange, New Jersey riding Sagacious HF; and Catherine Poulin-Neff of Newbury, Ohio riding Brilliant Too won the Team Gold medal. This was followed by strong individual performances by Hickey and Sammis earning them the Individual Gold and Silver medals respectively. The bronze was won by the Dominican Republic’s Yvonne Losos de Muniz who put the pressure on both Hickey and Sammis until the very last ride in the Freestyle.
The big equestrian story of the Games was in Three-Day Eventing where the experienced US team solidly dominated the competition and swept all the medals. Team USA’s Stephen Bradley, of Leesburg, Virginia riding From; Gina Miles of Creston, California riding McKinlaigh; Karen O’Connor, of The Plains, Virginia riding Theodore O’Connor; and Phillip Dutton of New Hope, Pennsylvania riding Truluck won the Team Gold. They took home all the individual medals with Karen O’Connor making history by being the first person to win a Pan Am medal on a pony - the amazing super-pony, Theodore O’Connor. It was “Teddy’s” debut on the international circuit and they were a very popular gold medal pair. Dutton grabbed silver over teammate Gina Miles, who took the bronze medal.
Competition was tougher for the US in show jumping. Brazil and Canada sent their A-teams to the Pan Ams and needed success to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games. These two teams dominated with Brazil taking home the Team Gold, Canada Team Silver and the US Team Bronze. The US team members were Cara Raether of North Palm Beach, Florida riding Ublesco; Todd Minikus of Loxahatchee, Florida riding Pavarotti; Lauren Hough of Wellington, Florida riding Casadora; and Laura Chapot of Neshanic Station, New Jersey riding Little Big Man. The Canadians were relentless in their pursuit of the individual medals with Jill Henselwood’s spectacular riding throughout the competition earning her the gold medal, finishing on only 4 faults for the entire competition. Brazil’s always impressive Rodrigo Pessoa put the pressure on Henselwood with a clear final round but took home the individual silver medal. Canada’s Eric LaMaze’s consistent riding won him the bronze. The best US individual finish was Cara Raether’s 8th place.
It was a very successful Pan Am Games for the United States Equestrian Team. The show jumpers will go on to Sao Paolo Brazil for a competition this weekend and then return home. All other team members and horses returned to the States last week, and undoubtedly are already planning their 2008 season with the goal of being selected for the Olympic Team traveling to Hong Kong, where the equestrian competition will be held in 2008.
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