A record-high 22 countries will be participating in Dressage on August 13 in Hong Kong after the completion of the Eventing competitions on August 12. Anky van Grunsven from the Netherlands is favored to earn her third straight Olympic gold, though she'll face a tough challenge from six-time German Dressage Champion Isabell Werth.
Grunsven is a Dutch Dressage champion who earned her first Olympic medal in Barcelona in 1992, when she won silver in Team Dressage. In 1996 she took silver in the Individual event and in 2000 she ascended to the top of the podium, a spot she successfully defended in 2004. The Dutch rider has been named World Cup Dressage champion eight times and in Beijing will again be atop Salinero, the Hanoverian on whom Grunsven won gold in Athens.
Grunsven's biggest rival is Isabell Werth of Germany. Werth won Individual gold in Atlanta in 1996 after helping Germany win Team gold in Barcelona and dominated the German Dressage scene in the 1990s with six national titles. Werth relinquished the top Olympic spot to Grunsven in Sydney but has remained at the highest level in the sport throughout the last eight years. In 2007 she took first place in Individual Dressage at the FEI World Cup and the Grand Prix Special at the European Championships.
Grunsven and Werth will be accompanied by strong riders from their respective companies, giving them a legitimate chance at a gold medal sweep in both Individual and Team Dressage. Imke Schellekens-Bartels of the Netherlands is ranked No. 5 in the world; Hans Peter Minderhoud rounds out the team.
Nadine Capellmann was a member of the German team that took Team gold in Sydney and is essential to Germany's effort to claim Team gold again. Capellmann was the gold medal winner at the 2002 Dressage World Championship.
Though expectations will be high for the German and Dutch riders, expect enthusiastic support for Hoketsu Hiroshi, the 67-year-old rider from Japan who will be making his Olympic comeback 44 years after his first participation in Tokyo in 1964. Previously a competitor in Jumping, Hoketsu, a retired pharmaceutical company director, now trains and competes in Dressage. The Japanese rider won five national championships between 1988 and 1992 and qualified for the Olympics in Seoul before having to drop out when his horse failed the quarantine exam. A source of inspiration for retirees (and anyone who is young at heart), Hoketsu will have to look to London and beyond if he wants to pass the record for oldest Olympian -- Oscar Swahn competed in the 1920 Olympics in Belgium at the age of 72.
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