A hot, sunny and musical day in Greenwich Park with the Freestyle tests for Grades II and Ib centre stage in the packed arena. It was a repeat performance from Saturday’s Grade II Individual Championship test with Natasha Baker picking up her second gold medal, followed by Britta Napel on her third silver medal (she also won team silver) and Angelika Trabert, winning her second bronze medal of the Games, alongside the team silver.
Lots of suspense and good horsemanship this afternoon in Grade Ib with British legend Lee Pearson relinquishing the Freestyle title he has held onto for so long, settling into bronze medal position while Pepo Puch from Austria was crowned the new Freestyle champion. This also goes down in the history books as Austria’s first gold medal at the equestrian events of the Paralmypic Games since 1996, alongside the first bronze medal he won on Saturday. For Finland, it’s a first appearance on the London 2012 Para-Equestrian Dressage medals table with a silver medal winning performance from Katja Karjalainen in Grade Ib.
The new golden girl of Para-Equestrian Dressage
“I never imagined I’d win 2 gold medals at my first Paralympic Games” said the 22 year-old rider from Great Britain. “I’ve really developed as a rider over the past week and have learnt a lot. I never thought JP (Cabral) would be so settled, but he loved it.” The pair were so successful that they not only won gold again today, but did so on a Paralympic record score and personal best of 82.8 per cent. “I knew it was going to be good, but I never imagined it would be a Paralympic record,” she said, beaming from ear to ear after her victory ceremony.