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ECM Blogs
Paralympics: Grade II Individual Championship
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
Germany’s Britta Naepel, second to enter the busy arena in the early hours this morning took the lead following “the test of her life” and waited patiently as the next sixteen riders did their utmost to claim gold, but it would be in vain, as she held top spot throughout and emerged the new Grade II Olympic gold medallist for the Individual Championship. In second place, and already looking like a strong medal contender during yesterday’s team competition, Lauren Barwick (CAN) achieved the goal of a lifetime, eight years in the making… Speechless at first, this tremendous result was all the more surprising given that Maile had been unwell upon arrival in Hong Kong, and she thanked her team and all the support she had received during those few uncertain days.
Bronze was decided in the final stages as the young and determined Danish rider, Caroline Cecile Nielsen performed the penultimate test, and convincingly slotted into third place. A medal which she had only “dared dream of became a reality” following the tremendous efforts of her new coach and horse Roster’s Hatim-Tinn.
A great crowd was present, as both the Chinese and Hong Kong rider, Yulian Peng and Siu Hong Yip were centre stage for their first Paralympic performance, a moment which they will remember no matter where they place on the final scores of the day.
Britta explained during the press conference that her anger at a disappointing test during the team competition the day before gave her all the more power and concentration today, and as “new opportunities come with a new day”, she was determined to reach her potential. “Before I compete, I get a little angry and that makes me stronger and more empowered in the competition.” Her great performance and score will also go a long way to boost their final team score as will the 5th place by fellow team member Steffen Zeibig. For the third German team member competing this morning and former Paralympic medallist Angelika Trabert, the test didn’t quite go as planned, placing eighth. However, any disappointments will now soon be forgotten as they get ready for the Grade II Freestyle to be held on Wednesday…
Meanwhile Grade IV will be saddling up this evening for the Individual Championship test, with medals and a prize giving ceremony to be held immediately following the competition.
