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4. Debbie McDonald (USA), Brentina - 75.653 (78.825)
6. Robert Dover (USA), Kennedy - 74.713 (78.475)
14. Gunther Seidel (USA), Aragon - 71.447 (73.800)

(Numbers in parentheses are the scores for the Freestyle - the first numbers are the overall scores.)

Individual Dressage: van GRUNSVEN defends gold medal 25 Aug. 2004

ATHENS, 25 August - Anky van GRUNSVEN (NED) renewed her gold medal from Sydney but this time triumphed with a new horse, SALINERO.

With a combined score of 79.253 per cent the Dutch Freestyle Queen, who has won six World Cup finals, decided the competition at Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre with an elegant interpretation of French chanson music.

Ulla SALZGEBER (GER), who was ranked #1 in the world, got the Silver Medal. The result is an improvement from her Bronze Medal in the 2000 Olympic Games. SALGEBER's 17-year-old highly decorated RUSTY left his competitive career with a majestic fight, dancing to the powerful classical tune of "Carmina Burana" and receiving a combined score of 78.833 per cent.

Spanish Beatriz FERRER-SALAT, with BEAUVALAIS, won the first Olympic individual dressage medal for her country, adding the icing on the cake for Spain who are also celebrating a silver team medal.

USA's Debbie MCDONALD and BRENTINA finished in fourth place, missing a chance to improve her score with the Freestyle.

* * * * * * * *

Individual Dressage: Comments from the Gold Medal, 25 Aug. 2004

ATHENS, 25 August - Comments from Anky VAN GRUNSVEN (NED).

Anky VAN GRUNSVEN (NED) - Individual Gold Medallist

On her performance:

"It is unbelievable. I never expected to leave Athens with a gold medal. Even this morning I didn't think about the medal at all. I thought that with a different horse rather than BONFIRE, it would not have happened. I enjoyed what I did very much, we both felt very relaxed and enjoyed our performance."

On her horse SALINERO:

"He felt better than expected. SALINERO was in good shape and felt very relaxed. He is a happy horse and I was surprised how frightened he was during the Grand Prix. He felt very nervous then. So what we did was to practice with noise, photographers around and umbrellas so that he would get used to it. Today I rode him in the morning and then I let him play for an hour and so he came in the arena feeling well and relaxed."

On her expectations:

"After our performance in the Grand Prix, I didn't expect that we would get the Gold."

On the problems encountered in the last season:

"Last year I had some difficult moments because of my broken leg following a fall from a young horse. That kept me of competition for five months. Honestly I can't believe how fast things went in the training of SALINERO."

On the differences between SALINERO and BONFIRE with whom she won the Gold in Sydney:

"They are willing to go and they don't want to make mistakes. They are both hot and sensible. If you look at them you see that they are two different types of horses, but the character is very much the same."

On her partner and trainer Sijeff JANSSEN (NED):

"We have been living and training together for a very long time. We both fight for the same goal. It is not easy to work together, it is not easy for me to listen to my partner as my trainer. It gets quite tough sometimes, because we are both very emotional. Training hard doesn't leave time for other things. We are both trying for the same purpose and that makes our life together interesting."

* * * * * * * *

Individual Dressage: SALZGEBER (GER), FERRER-SALAT (ESP) 25 Aug. 2004

ATHENS, 25 August - Comments from Ulla SALZGEBER (GER), Beatriz FERRE-SALAT (ESP).

Ulla SALZGEBER (GER) - Silver Medal

On whether she is disappointed at not winning the gold:

''I'm not at all disappointed. After all the problems I was facing last year I had decided not to ride anymore. It was my family who pushed me to continue. It is because of them that I'm here today. I am not anymore the fighter I used to be. I have my medals and I am very happy."

On her future plans:

''I'm the oldest in the equestrian family, but I'm not thinking of stopping riding yet. I have many young horses back home that I train. I will go on, I just don't know at what level, but I will continue to ride in international competitions."

On RUSTY'S future:

''I will keep riding him at home, but only for fun. I might take him to special events and shows but no more international events."

On her music selection:

''I have been using Carmina Burana for five years, but it's the last time that I'll use it in front of the judges. It is a classical theme that I love.''

On whether she was disappointed after her performance in the Grand Prix Special:

''I made some mistakes and RUSTY was bothered by the noise outside the arena. I didn't see Anky's test. I believe that she has to be the winner, if she made a good test. I was only frustrated by the marks because one judge gave me 6 percent less than the others and I think that this is a big difference. This is the nice thing in our sport, however, that everything can happen."

Beatriz FERRER-SALAT (ESP) - Bronze Medal

On her expectations before coming here:

''Before we came here nobody counted on us. I always thought that the medals were there only for some riders, both in the individual and in the team competition. I am grateful that we won the silver with the team and I am also very happy that I got a medal in the Individual. BEAUVALAIS was just brilliant."

On her musical choice for the Freestyle:

''I asked a German composer to write a modern piece with a Spanish touch and that was the result. I think the music made a great match with BEAUVALAIS."

* * * * * * * *

Individual Dressage: Quotes from BRINK, DOVER, SCMIDT, McDONALD 25 Aug. 2004

ATHENS, 25 August - Comments from the riders competing in the Individual Grand Prix Freestyle

Jan BRINK (SWE):

On his perfomance with BRIAR

"I am quite happy with my horses' perfomance, I think he was very good today. Maybe a little tense everytime he got close to the right corner. We had a very nice warm up and I felt relaxed before getting in the arena. BRIAR was quite hot at the beginning, but he became very good coming to the end of our programme. He was fresh and I am happier with him today than in the Grand Prix Special, when he was not on his best day".

On his marks

"I am not pleased with what the judges have given me. I came here in order to compete well and get a medal. I guess if you finish the competition in sixth or seventh place it is a good showing. The Olympic Games are the most important competition for all the athletes".

Robert DOVER (USA):

On his perfomance

"It was great, so much fun to ride. It is just a shame that my horse became a bit nervous in the beginning, because something bothered him at the back of the stadium. Then he lost concetration for a while. It is a pity because we could have had an 80% today. The way he moved was like he was flying".

On his horse KENNEDY

"Nothing is simple with KENNEDY. Even the walk is a complicated thing, but he has become so smart now and he is waiting for the crowd to cheer him on. I am with him since October and we have been working since February. Of course we made a lot of changes to the programme, now I know the music so well that I focus on the riding, everything worked out perfect".

On Dressage

"Dressage is an art. It is one way to look for the greatest truths in life. It is very unfortunate that Dressage world is so much different than the Jumping world, because the judges do not face a fault in Dressage as if they had one rail down. They become either very ungenerous or unseeing".

Hubertus SCHMIDT (GER):

On his perfomance with WANSUELA SUERTE

"Again those stupid two flying changes. I cannot believe we the same mistake again there"

On Olympic competition

"This is definetely not a horse show like any other in the world. It lasts over one week, something that makes the horse aware that there is something extraordinary going on".

On his expectations

"I wanted to be one of the top three German riders. I wanted to be among the the top 10 riders".

Deborah McDONALD (USA):

On her perfomance

"I am not happy with myself, but I am pleased with my horse. It was out of my control, it is just one of those times, that the body doesn't work with the brain. At least I lived the Olympic experience and I can return back home with my head up high".

United States Equestrian Federation

News Release

McDonald Fourth and Dover Sixth in Dressage Individual Final

For Immediate Release August 25, 2004

Athens, Greece - On another windy day at the Markopoulo Equestrian Center, Debbie McDonald, of Hailey, ID finished in fourth place and Robert Dover, of Lebanon, NJ and Wellington, FL in sixth place in the Dressage Individual competition which concluded today. Today’s final phase of competition was the Grand Prix Freestyle. The individual scores are compiled from three days of competition which include the Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle.

Anky van Grunsven, of the Netherlands, won the individual Gold Bedal on Salinero today;.Ulla Salzberger, of Germany, the Silver on Rusty; and Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, of Spain, the Bronze, on Beauvalais.

McDonald and Dover were members of the US Team, which won the Team Bronze Medal this past Saturday. Guenter Seidel, of Del Mar, CA and Lisa Wilcox, a Los Angeles native residing in Germany, were also on the team. Seidel competed today in the Grand Prix Freestyle and finished 14th with a score of 71.447.

A couple of small errors on his one tempis were, according to Dover, his problem. Coming into the ring, his horse was somewhat nervous and lost his concentration. Dover said it was the back side of the ring that caused the distraction. Nonetheless, he said that the day was a lot of fun and that he couldn’t be happier with his mount. It was a difficult Freestyle presentation by all standards.

“There is nothing that is not difficult in my Freestyle. I go from one thing to the next to the next,” he said. “It comes immediately. The only relaxed moment is the walk-in for Kennedy.”

The “First Lady of American dressage,” Debbie McDonald, along with her Brentina (owned by Peggy and Parry Thomas) put in the final performance for the U.S. team to a compilation of Gershwin tunes. She finished her Individual medal effort with one percentage point keeping her from taking home a second medal, in addition to her Bronze Team Medal.

“I’m happy with myself and I’m happy with my horse,” said McDonald. “You know, some things are out of your control and this was totally out of my control.”

“My body just wasn’t working with my brain,” she laughed. “And that happens. At least I came and lived the Olympic experience and I’m going home with a Bronze Medal. It’s O.K.”

The top six total scores were as follows:

1. van Grunsven, NED, Salinero, 79.278

2. Salzgeber, GER, Rusty, 78.833

3. Ferrer-Salat, ESP, Beauvalais, 76.667

4. McDonald, USA, Brentina, 75.653

5. Schmidt, GER, Wansuela Suerte, 74.883

6. Dover, USA, FBW Kennedy, 74.713

A complete report of the competition can be found later this evening on the homepage at www.usef.org.

END

For more information contact:
Maria Partlow

Athens number: 693 6733 136