“That was very exhausting,” said the winner about the anxious moments: “I think those were the most exhausting minutes. I didn’t know where the result would come first, on the screen or on the scoreboard. I died a few deaths.” Then an “emotional storm” broke out, she reported: “I almost had to cry.” Her horse was unaffected: “Dalera is a cool sock, she’s not as disturbed as I am.”
She was “touched, incredibly grateful and overwhelmed,” said von Bredow-Werndl on ARD and raved about her 17-year-old mare: “I trusted her, she trusted me, it was simply the perfect symbiosis again. She left her heart in there for me.”
The winner had to worry for a few minutes after her splendid ride, because the last rider was Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour with Freestyle. She had ridden out of the seething stadium beaming, praising her Dalera and calling out: “Hopefully it’s enough.” Yes, it was enough. Because the Dane made a mistake. For von Bredow-Werndl it was a repeat of the double victory from Tokyo.
Werth: “Exceeds my expectations”
And there were even two German medals in the individual event, as Werth also excelled with Wendy. “The games are simply fantastic,” commented Werth: “Going home with gold and silver is beyond my expectations. And then this atmosphere, it’s unbelievable and fanatical.”
The German delegation in Versailles celebrated the two riders. “It is difficult to find appropriate superlatives for these outstanding performances,” commented Dennis Peiler, the head of sports at the FN equestrian association. “It is simply fantastic to experience this in front of such a backdrop.”
The two German competitors enjoyed the double success together, which they had also achieved in Tokyo. “I’m extremely happy,” commented the winner: “It was of course our dream to be on the podium together again. We talked about it yesterday, it’s unbelievable.”
Dalera danced in the square
Von Bredow-Werndl once again made her Dalera dance in the freestyle. To a medley of French chanson music, the 38-year-old and the mare strung together elements of the highest difficulty levels. After her outstanding performance, she wiped a tear from her eyes. And later said of the music: “That was a homage to Paris, to love and to Dalera.”
But Werth also put on a gala performance in the freestyle. The 55-year-old from Rheinberg thrilled the 15,000 spectators in the steel-tube stadium in Versailles with a potpourri based on the romantic song “Mandy” by Barry Manilow, which was rewritten as “Wendy” because of her mare. After the ride, she showed her fist and beamed.
No time to celebrate
The day before, Werth and von Bredow-Werndl had already won a gold medal in the team competition together with Frederic Wandres. There wasn’t much time to celebrate, as preparations for the freestyle began that evening, in which the two German riders became competitors – and both won a medal each.
With the narrow victory, Werth had already achieved something unique with the team. She became Germany’s record medalist. Werth’s Olympic record now includes eight gold and six silver Olympic medals. Canoeist Birgit Fischer is Germany’s number two, having won eight Olympic gold medals and four silver medals in her career. “Well, that’s really very, very special,” she said of her Olympic record. “Of course, that makes me proud.” She announced: “I’m going to go for a drink with Birgit soon. We’ve both really achieved something.”
«Sweated blood and water»
The path to the record victory, the 15th German team gold at the Olympic Games, was a very special one. It was closer than ever before – and Werth had already written it off because von Bredow-Werndl showed unusual weaknesses in the Grand Prix Special. “We miscalculated, went to the stable and thought that it wasn’t enough,” reported Werth: “I thought it was a close call.”
When the cheering broke out in the stadium, “we had to go back,” said Werth, adding with a grin: “And then someone says dressage is boring.” The experienced rider admitted: “We didn’t really expect it to be such a thriller. We sweated blood and water.”
«It doesn’t work, it doesn’t exist»
Werth’s unique career began at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where she won team gold with Gigolo. Four years later, she celebrated double gold with the same horse. She won further gold medals with the horses Satchmo, Weihegold and Bella Rose. Werth’s extraordinary track record also includes nine world championship titles. “This perseverance over all these years is insane,” enthused her teammate Frederic Wandres: “There’s no such thing as impossible.”
Wandres also traveled home with gold in Hagen in the Osnabrück region. But in the individual competition, the 37-year-old had no chance of making it onto the podium with Bluetooth. The national coach told him before riding in: “Remember, you’ve been an Olympic champion since yesterday.” He therefore enjoyed the freestyle.
