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Sydney 2000

Netherlands
Silver Medal Team - Atlanta & Sydney
Gold Individual - Sydney - Silver - Atlanta

Bonfire & Anky Win the Gold!

The top 17 competitors minus one German - Alexandra Simons de Ridder & Chacomo and one Dutch - Arjen Teeuwissen & Goliath (as only three competitors from each country were permitted in the final freestyle)- competed today for the individual medals in the freestyle.

It was a superb performance.

Bonfire and Anky were scheduled as the last ride following Isabell Werth & Gigolo. Bonfire and Anky put in a perfect performance to a new freestyle composition Neal Diamond's Songs Sung Blue with musical parts from her previous freestyles seamlessly woven in. The 86.05% added to their GP 75.00% and GP Special 78.13 put them 4.99 total points ahead of Isabell and Gigolo. Throughout the careers of these two seventeen year olds who will both now be retired, they have traded first and second places in all major competitions. Gigolo won the Individual Gold at Atlanta and Bonfire the Silver. Today the medals were reversed. Bonfire's piaffe was exceptional. Isabell & Gigolo also had a new freestyle based on I'm Just a Gigolo. Gigolo seemed a bit tired and they just weren't quite "perfect" earning "only" 82.02% for a total of 234.19 points (76.32 GP, 75.67 GPS).

When Anky & Bonfire turned on their solo victory lap, they rounded the corner at M and took off in an exuberant GALLOP! past the standing, cheering crowd. On the short side, Anky tried to pull him back to passage, but Bonfire insisted on GALOPP all the way -- urged on by an entire section of Dutch fans in their orange shirts and even with their own brass band!

The battle for the bronze was between Farbenfroh (Nadine Cappellmann) and Rusty (Ulla Salzgeber). Ulla & Rusty were first and had a lovely freestyle going until about half way when their CD music stopped after a walk sequence and then started with static and then quit again. The whistle blew and the routine was stopped. After much discussion, the pair was excused with a determination of what to do to follow. The crowd gave them a standing ovation as they exited the arena.

Nadine and Farbenfroh followed, perhaps feeling the tension of the misqued music and a delay in their start time. Their freestyle music was loved by the crowd and Farbenfroh is simply awesome, but he was also hot and had some errors. The crowd knew their score of 74.60 was probably not enough to win a bronze.

After Bonfire's gold medal winning ride, Ulla and Rusty returned to the arena and were allowed to start their freestyle from the point it was interrupted --- now some thirty minutes after it was stopped. Ulla merely smiled, cantered confidentally into the arena as if nothing had happened, and the pair completed their freestyle in medal winning style. They received an 80.67% -- truly earning their Individual Bronze.

They exited to their second standing ovation of the day.

Waiting for the medal ceremony, the Dutch led wave after wave in the audience! A perfect climax to the dressage at Sydney!

Scores are available at www.olympics.com. Judges were:

E: Axel Steiner USA
H: Mary Seefried, AUS
C: Eric Lette SWE - head FEI judge
M: Volker Moritz GER
B: Jan Peeters NED

Sue Blinks and Flim Flam (USA) earned a 74.45% to finish 8th while Christine Traurig finished 11th with 67.57

Coby van Baalen and Ferro had a few mistakes although lovely music -- Zorba the Greek selections -- and finished 5th with 75.10. Ellen Bonjte, student of Conrad Schumacher, and Silvano finsihed 6th with 73.56%

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