Unfortunately, the third time is a charm in the Olympic stadium in Versailles. Dinja van Liere also just missed out on bronze today. With a flashy freestyle, Van Liere has Hermès N.O.P. achieved a great fourth place in the closing Olympic final. The rider did not lose any points and splashed with her Spice Girls freestyle as a true power woman to the, yet somewhat thankless, fourth place. Emmelie Scholtens finished with Indian Rock in a respectable eleventh place.
After her test, Van Liere assumed she would finish fifth, a result she was happy with. When she realized it was fourth place after all, she was very disappointed when she heard how close she had been to a medal. She was only 0.5% behind the bronze-winning Charlotte Fry. The German riders Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Isabell Werth won gold and silver.
New personal record for Van Liere
Dinja van Liere was very pleased with her score of 88.432% after her test: “Today I was able to ride really well again. Hermès NOP went really well and from start to finish it felt really good. I really wanted to ride well here, I would have preferred a medal, but with such strong opponents I knew that would be difficult. It is already cool to be able to ride here among the rest. Today I even rode a new personal record, which I think is really cool. If the rest is just a little bit better, then I just have to practice a little bit harder. When the audience started clapping while I rode my last line in my test, I really got goosebumps. When you then greet so many people around you in orange, who all came for us, that makes me really proud. I end the Olympic Games very satisfied.
Great feeling
Emmelie Scholtens rode a good test with Indian Rock, which was assessed with a score of 81.750% and an eleventh place in the ranking. Scholtens after her test: “I really wanted to ride better than in the Grand Prix Special yesterday and that certainly worked out. The passages went very well and I was well into the music, I was riding nicely.” Scholtens looks back on the past week with a good feeling. “It was beautiful when you drive in here, that is very special. Especially so many people in orange, friends, family, fans, you really feel that when you drive in. That gives a great feeling.”
Proud of how it went
Patrick van der Meer looks back on his first Olympic Games as national coach with a good feeling. “Yesterday, Emmelie’s result was a bit of a disappointment that we didn’t see coming, but when I see how she pulled herself together today, she did a great job. Hans Peter Minderhoud rode two very solid tests earlier this week and didn’t drop any stitches. When you see Dinja, she’s just a star. That girl can ride, really abnormal! I think it’s a great event, a unique venue where everything for the horses is arranged down to the last detail. I really enjoyed it and am proud of how it went.”
Grand Prix freestyle results
11. Emmelie Scholtens (Gorinchem) – Indian Rock (81.750%)
Source: KNHS Press Release