British riders kickstart Tokyo 2020 Paralympic dreams with three medals

Sir Lee Pearson and Breezer © BEF / Jon Stroud Media

Sir Lee Pearson, Georgia Wilson and Sophie Wells proved that the Brits mean business after the first day of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic equestrian action concludes with a medal tally of three

British riders bookended the podium in today’s (Thursday 26 August) Grade II Paralympic dressage individual event, as team stalwart Sir Lee Pearson rode Breezer to a gold medal and Georgia Wilson steered Sakura to bronze. Helping Great Britain to score a medal of each colour, Sophie Wells then concluded the day’s medal tally, finishing her day with a silver medal after riding Don Cara M.

Grade II

Georgia Wilson was the first to go for Britain and, despite stepping in at the last minute in place of Grade I rider Sophie Christiansen who was forced to withdraw due to a minor horse injury, pulled off a flawless performance reflective of her strong competition record to date. Most notably, Georgia’s the reigning European freestyle gold medallist, and at the same 2019 European Championships she won individual silver and helped the British team to silver.

25-year-old Georgia, who has cerebral palsy and rides with two sticks and looped reins to support her aids, was making her Paralympic debut on the aptly named Sakura (Japanese for cherry blossom) – one of the younger horses in the competition at just seven years old. While Georgia’s focus might have been on Paris after initially missing out on this year’s selection, her score of 72.765% – a personal best by nearly 1.5%, which was enough to put her in provisional first place at the time – shows great promise of what’s to come for her in the future.

The remaining Brit to go at this Grade was Sir Lee Pearson on the 10-year-old Breezer. With 11 Paralympic gold medals to his name, he was riding to add a twelfth to his tally and didn’t disappoint as he secured the top spot on the leader board on another personal best score of 76.265%. Lee has arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, which affects the flexibility of his joints though, at 47 years old, he certainly hasn’t allowed it to hold him back. He’s ridden at every Paralympic Games except one since equestrian was added to the roster in 1996 and success has followed him from start to finish, taking a gold medal at every event he’s ridden at.

Meanwhile, it was Austrian Pepo Puch who separated the British entries in the Grade II test riding Sailor’s Blue to claim silver on a fantastic score of 73.441%.

Grade V

Sophie Wells continued the day’s success when, the sole representative for Great Britain at Grade V, she rode a fluid and expressive test aboard Don Cara M to second place and an individual silver medal, after earning a score of 74.405%. A world and European champion in the past – and having competed in able-bodied dressage, too – she’s been part of two Paralympic gold medal teams, in 2012 and 2016, earning three individual silver medals and an individual gold, as well.

She was joined in medalling position by Belgium’s Michele George who rode Best Of 8 to a score of 76.524% and the gold medal, while the bronze medal was awarded to Frank Hosmar and Alphaville, who achieved a score of 73.405% for The Netherlands.

Grade IV

There were no British representatives in the Grade IV that followed, but the podium was made up of Sanne Voets and Demantur for the Netherlands who claimed the best score of the day, 76.585% for the gold medal, Brazil’s Rodolpho Riskalla and Don Henrico who scored 74.659% for silver, and the bronze medal was clinched by Belgium’s Manon Claeys and San Dior 2, who scored a total of 72.853%.

What’s next?

The Grade I and Grade III tests will take place tomorrow (Friday 27 August) – look out for Great Britain’s Natasha Baker and Keystone Dawn Chorus, who will take to the white boards at 12:36 (BST) for their individual Grade III performance.

The top eight horse and rider combinations per grade based on the result of the individual test also progress to the individual freestyle test (Monday 30 August).

Grade II results:

1. Great Britain’s Sir Lee Pearson and Breezer – 76.265%
2. Austria’s Pepo Puch and Sailor’s Blue – 73.441%
3. Great Britain’s Georgia Wilson and Sakura – 72.765%
4. Germany’s Heidemarie Dresing and La Boum 20 – 72.294%
5. USA’s Beatrice de Lavalette and Clarc – 70.265%
6. Denmark’s Katrine Kristensen and Welldone Dallas – 69.794%
7. Japan’s Mitsuhide Miyaji and Charmander – 66.824%
8. Russian Paralympic Committee’s Iuliia Poliakova and Romina Power – 66.824%
9. Australia’s Victoria Davies and Celere – 65.618%
10. Japan’s Soshi Yoshigoe and Hashtag – 63.823%
11. Singapore’s Maximillian Tan and Don’s Day Dream 61.588%

Grade IV results:

1. Netherlands’ Sanne Voets and Demantur – 76.585%
2. Brazil’s Rodolpho Riskalla and Don Henrico – 74.659%
3. Belgium’s Manon Claeys and San Dior 2 – 72.853%
4. Sweden’s Louise Etzner Jakobsson and Goldstrike B.J. – 72.634%
5. Denmark’s Susanne Jensby Sunesen and Leeds – 71.976%
6. Germany’s Saskia Deutz and Soyala – 70.975%
7. USA’s Kate Shoemaker and Solitaer 40 – 70.854%
8. South Africa’s Philippa Johnson-Dwyer and Just In Time – 69.780%
9. France’s Vladimir Vinchon and Fidertanz For Rosi – 68.695%
10. Australia’s Sharon Jarvis and Romanos – 68.366%
11. Austria’s Bernd Brugger and Bellagio 4 – 66.903%
12. Finland’s Pia-Paulina Reitti and Supremo – 66.269%
13. Russian Paralympic Committee’s Laurentio II – 65.976%
14. Japan’s Katsuji Takashima and Huzette – 65.951%
15. Ireland’s Rosemary Jean Gaffney and Werona – 65.390%

Grade V results:

1. Belgium’s Michele George and Best Of 8 – 76.524%
2. Great Britain’s Sophie Wells and Don Cara M – 74.405%
3. Netherlands’ Frank Hosmar and Alphaville – 73.405%
4. Germany’s Regine MIspelkamp and Highlander Delight’s – 73.191%
5. Russian Paralympic Committee’s Natalia Martianova and Quinta – 71.405%
6. Sweden’s Lena Malmstrom and Fabulous Fidelie – 69.833%
7. Belgium’s Kevin van Ham and Eros Van Ons Heem – 69.357%
8. Australia’s Amelia White and Genius 60 – 69.238%
9. Italy’s Federica Sileoni and Burberry – 69.048%
10. Saudi Arabia’s Ahmed Sharbatly and Godiva DII – 66.691%
11. South Africa’s Cayla van der Walt and Daturo II – 66.643%
12. Ireland’s Tamsin Addison and Fahrenheit – 66.452%
13. Austria’s Valentina Strobl and Bequia Simba – 64.381%
14. Switzerland’s Nicole Geiger and Amigo – 64.381%