The U.S. continued their best Para Dressage performance at a Paralympic Games by edging out the Netherlands for gold in a dramatic conclusion to the Team event at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Personal best scores by Individual gold medalists Fiona Howard, who scored a stunning 80.000% on Diamond Dunes in Grade II, and Rebecca Hart, who scored 78.567% with Floratina in Grade III, proved critical after another strong Grade I performance by Individual silver medalist Roxanne Trunnell on Fan Tastico H.

That left Team USA on a total of 235.567, beating the Dutch tally of 232.850, with Germany taking bronze on 223.751. The U.S.’s previous best Paralympic medal haul was two golds and a bronze at Atlanta 1996 and Tokyo 2020. They now have three golds and one silver at Paris 2024, with the five Individual Freestyle events still to come on Saturday. 

Team USA also became the first nation other than Great Britain to win a Para Dressage Team event at a Paralympic Games. But it was a tense finale after the Grade IV duo of Sanne Voets on Demantur (76.567%) and Demi Haerkens with Daula (78.216%) set the pace for the Netherlands early on.

Unofficial Paralympic Record

Trunnell, the first U.S. athlete to go, scored 77.000% with Fan Tastico H in Grade I before Howard and Diamond Dunes delivered the highest individual score (to date) at Paris 2024, eclipsing Italian rider Sara Morganti’s 79.458% on Mariebelle in Grade I earlier in the day.

There was fleeting excitement around Versailles that a new Paralympic record had been set, but due to changes in the tests since the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, it’s not possible to make direct comparisons or officially recognize it as a record. But it undoubtedly remains a remarkable achievement.

“I came out of the ring and thought, ‘That felt really good’, but you never know,” said 25-year-old Howard, who now has two golds in her first Paralympic Games. “Whatever the score was, I was super proud of him. He felt amazing and did everything I could have asked. But then seeing it reflected on the scoreboard was just the cherry on top. What a horse! He is so special.”

Positive Energy

That superlative display nudged Team USA ahead going into the concluding Grade III, but when Rixt van der Horst and Royal Fonq scored 78.067% for the Dutch, Hart entered the arena on Floratina knowing she needed a personal best score to take gold.

“It’s always a bit intense being the ‘closer’ for your team and it was quite a pressure-cooker situation,” said the 39-year-old, who along with Trunnell and Kate Shoemaker, was part of the U.S. team that took bronze at Tokyo 2020. 

“I was definitely doing the math. I think my previous best was a 75-something, so it was a jump. Rixt was right before me. They had put in a solid first two rides, so I knew she was going to deliver too. I had a quick peak at the board and went ‘OK, let’s go, game on’. I knew we had to do something pretty special,” Hart said. “It was quite electric out there. Floratina was feeling the atmosphere and was good and fresh. I just needed to make sure I took all that energy and used it in a positive manner.”

The combination’s score of 78.567% brought the U.S. home, leaving Van der Horst with her second silver medal of these Games. Hart acknowledged that she felt tense going in the ring.

“I knew I had to deliver a really good test,” she said. “For myself, I set the goal of at least 78 or something, hopefully a little bit more, and I achieved it.”

First Medal for Oldest Paralympic Rider at Paris

Germany earned their third medal at Versailles by edging out Italy for bronze. Anna-Lena Niehues and Quimbaya 6, who took Individual bronze in Grade IV, scored 75.351%, before Grade V Individual silver medalist Regine Mispelkamp and Highlander Delight’s earned 75.500%.

There was also a first Paralympic medal—after three previous fourth-place finishes in Individual events—for the oldest Para Dressage competitor in Versailles, 69-year-old Heidemarie Dresing. She scored 72.900% with Dooloop in Grade II to give Germany a total of 223.751, with Italy on 223.166 despite Morganti’s 79.458% with Mariebelle.

“It’s incredible. She really listened to me and we were one single thing together, which is what we worked for,” Morganti said. “ You can always improve but today, in my condition and her condition, it was perfect.” 

U.S. Ends Great Britain’s Paralympic Reign

France finished fifth while Great Britain, who had won all seven previous Para Dressage Team events since Atlanta in 1996, finished sixth.

“We’ve been in front for such a long time,” said Great Britain’s Natasha Baker, who scored 75.367% on Dawn Chorus in Grade III. “We didn’t expect to be bringing home the Team gold in Tokyo, so that was unreal. The rest of the world has caught up with us now. It’s just going to be a case of us trying to find ways that we can sneak back to the top again.”

Norway’s Jens Lasse Dokkan, the only Para Equestrian athlete to compete at all eight Paralympic Games since Atlanta in 1996, confirmed that Paris 2024 is likely to be his swan song.

“I felt the emotion today,” the 63-year-old said. “I knew this would be my last Paralympics. I haven’t made a final decision about carrying on riding, but right now I feel I want to retire.”

The final day of Para Dressage will take place on Saturday. The competition will see the top eight in all five Grades from the Individual events earlier in the week contesting in the Individual Freestyle, with Grade IV.

To read more of our coverage of the 2024 Paris Paralympic games, click here.