As I was watching the eventing stadium jumping on the streaming web on the large screen TV at the USET this morning in NJ it was reminiscent of the Atlanta Games in 1996 when I worked at the FEI Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. I was charged with translating a long article from French to English written by Swiss journalist Alban Poudret on the results of the Games. He had described the Germans as being “omnipresent and omnipotent” I thought wow – that is a bold but seemingly accurate statement, since they won both the gold team medals in dressage and show jumping. Today, as the Germans, once a weak nation in the eventing discipline, took home both the team and individual gold I couldn’t help but to think of Alban’s article.
It is said the Germans now excel in eventing as well ever since the format was changed some years back removing the steeple chase and putting more emphasis on dressage & show jumping. Germany is a heavily favored nation for dressage and show jumping in this Olympic Games as well. Surprised?
Fingers crossed for our dressage team - Grand Prix is tomorrow night at 7:15pm, Hong Kong time. Steffen Peters and the superb horse Ravel are last to go. A most excellent draw for this exciting combination. A US gold or silver would certainly be splendid.
Enjoy the Games! Just wish the US had better TV coverage.
Cindy