British Dressage celebrates ‘phenomenal’ year for sport
British Dressage (BD) has celebrated a “phenomenal” year for the sport.
From Rio to Olympia, dressage has dominated headlines of both equestrian and mainstream media.
The popularity of the sport was also demonstrated by the success of para dressage rider Sophie Christiansen in her Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) award nomination.
“We’re really delighted to see how much interest it’s generated,” BD’s Jason Brautigam told H&H.
Team GBR’s medal haul
At the Rio Olympic Games this summer, Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester, Spencer Wilton and Fiona Bigwood secured team silver for Great Britain.
Charlotte and Valegro went on to win individual gold with a massive 93.857%.
Britain also came out on top in the Paralympics with the team recording their most successful Games to date, accruing seven gold medals and a total medal haul of 11.
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Dressage was once again brought into the spotlight during Olympia (12-18 December), where superstar Valegro was officially retired from competition.
The same week, eight-time Paralympic gold medallist Sophie finished fifth in the BBC’s SPOTY award.
Sophie was just two places behind Rio showjumping hero Nick Skelton and ahead of 11 other top athletes, including cyclists Laura and Jason Kenny.
“It was phenomenal to see Sophie in the line-up of 16 superb top class athletes,” Mr Brautigam said.
“She finished above both cyclists and two footballers. It shows just how far dressage has come. For Sophie it was deserved recognition of everything she has achieved.
Related articles:
- Nick Skelton third and Sophie Christiansen fifth in BBC SPOTY
- Charlotte Dujardin exclusive: ‘She bet me £5 that I couldn’t make him piaffe’
- Golden hat-trick for Britain on final day of Paralympic dressage
“[Nick and Sophie’s SPOTY result] is testament to how popular equestrian is and how dedicated and loyal the horse community is.
“Last week Olympia brought dressage in the spotlight again with Valegro’s retirement. It was a fantastic week of action with Carl [Hester] winning too.”
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.