Team Gold for Great Britain as Sophie Wells scores personal best at Tokyo 2020

Sophie Wells and Don Cara M © FEI / Liz Gregg

Personal best for Sophie Wells and a gold medal for Great Britain as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic team competition goes down to the wire

After Sir Lee Pearson and Natasha Baker achieved scores of 77.636% and 76.618% in yesterday’s (28 August) first day of team competition, it begged the question – would any nation be able to take on the challenge Great Britain poses at this year’s Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games? While competition was close, today (29 August) Sophie Wells made it clear Great Britain is still the nation to beat, as she set down a personal best of 75.651% that sent the defending team gold medallists to the top of the table, where they remained once more.

With three scores to a team, Sophie Wells and Don Cara M were Great Britain’s only combination to go of the day. Having won individual silver in the Grade V test earlier on this week, if Sophie could match her score from that test – 74.405% – it would put the team in a positive position. However, after a beautiful test that incorporated tidy transitions and bold extensions with excellent balance, tempo and rhythm, despite an unwanted flying change in the counter-canter, she was rewarded with a personal best of 75.651%!

This gave Great Britain a strong provisional lead as it became the score to beat on 229.905 (an incredible average of 76.635 per rider). Though Britain’s medal hopes felt within grasp, with the final riders from the Netherlands, USA and Denmark still to come, there was no time for viewers to relax.

While Kate Shoemaker scored 71.825% on Solitaer 40 for the USA, Sanne Voets scored a massive 78.200% on Demantur for the Netherlands, and Susanne Jensby Sunesen scored 72.250% on Leeds for Denmark, the gauntlet Team GB set down proved a challenge too far for any of the remaining nations, despite their best efforts. On final totals of 229.249, 224.352 and 224.324, respectively, the Netherlands and USA took silver and bronze, while Denmark missed out on the podium by a miniscule margin of 0.028.

Full team results…

1. Great Britain – 229.905
2. The Netherlands – 229.249
3. USA – 224.352
4. Denmark – 224.324
5. France – 216.069
6. Belgium – 223.137
7. Germany – 215.036
8. Italy – 214.057
9. Austria – 213.502
10. Canada – 211.699
11. Russian Paralympic Committee – 208.233
12. Ireland – 207.176
13. Australia – 206.458
14. Singapore – 200.792
15. Japan – 198.378