Tokyo Olympics 2020: US Equestrian Dressage Team Holds Off Rio Gold Medalist Charlotte Dujardin and Great Britain to Clinch Silver

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 dressage finals have ended. Team USA has another big reason to celebrate as Steffen Peters, Sabine Schut-Kery and Adrienne Lyle pick up silver! They continue the US’ tradition of winning a medal in at least one equestrian event.

US dressage team claims silver at the Tokyo Olympics 2020

The dressage team finals at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 were probably the most nail-biting in the competition’s history. For the first time, every nation competing had an adequate chance at clinching a podium spot. However, three of the favorites smoked the competition, with Germany claiming gold, USA with silver and Great Britain settling with bronze.

First, Adrienne Lyle got the ball rolling with an incredible 76.109% with Salvino. Building on her impressive performance at the individual qualifiers, she did well enough to give the US the lead. To take them further, Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper registered a wonderful 77.776.

This left Sabine Schut-Kery to come in and clean up the points and cement her nation’s place at the top. Although Germany would overtake them, her performance was enough to keep Rio gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin at bay. With a whopping 81.596, she widened the gap enough for Dujardin and her horse to fall short.

With this silver medal, the US registers their first medal in dressage in nearly a decade. The last time they won a medal in dressage was at the Sydney Olympics 2000. That win was the fourth consecutive bronze medal for them, making it a historic four-peat (1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000)

Great Britain claim bronze but suffers heartbreak

Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Charlotte Dujardin promised her horse Gio would take her to the podium. He did, but it was a disappointing team event for one of the greatest of all time. While she can still claim an individual gold, Charlotte Dujardin and Great Britain’s performance left a lot to be desired.

They aimed to beat the mighty German team but fell ridiculously short of it. With Carl Hester and Charlotte Fry by her side, Dujardin simply couldn’t lift them to gold or silver. While the German squad ended with an astounding 8178 points, Great Britain finished at 7723 points.

A gap of 24 points separated the US and the Great Britain squad, a testament to how nail-biting the final was. However, the US team has enough reason to celebrate as their team members reached new heights. Steffen Peters adds the first silver to his Olympic tally, while Adrienne Lyle and Sabine Schut-Kery pick up their first Olympic medals.

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