Anky Van Grunsven and Salinero secure Individual Gold for the Netherlands

Germany's Ulla Salzgeber & Rusty photo ©TetleyPhoto.com

With a combined score of 79.253 % the Dutch Freestyle Queen, who won six World Cup Finals, ended up with a deserved score of 85.825 % after a stylish Kür on “L’Esprit Chanson” including a number of French famous songs. “It is unbelievable” commented the Dutch heroine, “after the Grand Prix, I never thought I had any chance to win the gold. After my injury last year which left me out of competition for 5 months, it is just unbelievable”! Salinero is physically very different from Bonfire”, she continued, “but they have a similar character. They are no hero outside of the arena, very sensible and hot, as I like. Salinero is still very impressed by the crowd, as you could see at the prize giving ceremony, but he really wants to do his best for me. Both horses have actually a lot in common.”
 
World Number One and favourite Ulla Salzgeber (GER) and Rusty earned the silver, after a score of 83.450 in the Freestyle to Music. It was the last appearance of highly decorated 16 year-old Rusty, who will leave his competitive career after a majestic fight, dancing to the powerful classical tune of “Carmina Burana”, and receiving a combined score of 78.833 %.
 
Spanish Beatriz Ferrer-Salat and Beauvalais earned the first ever Olympic Individual Dressage medal for Spain.
 
Debbie McDonald (USA) and Brentina finished in fourth place, missing their change to improve their score in the Freestyle to Music.

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."

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."