Emotions at the CDI in Olomouc. Van Malderen wins a bronze medal in Grand Prix Special

Czech rider Tereza van Malderen made her debut in the CDI3* Grand Prix Special in Olomouc. She scored over 66% with her gelding Quantum Leap van’t Genthof, which was enough for third place.

The main competition of the international dressage event held at the Equine Sport Center in Olomouc was the CDI3* Grand Prix Special on Sunday. The Canadian rider, Leonie Bramall, won with her 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Cricket BD, with a final score of 68.872%. She was overjoyed with her success and was moved to tears as the Canadian national anthem rang through the arena. 

And she was not the only one to shed tears of joy. Anna Kleindienst-Jilly and her 14-year-old gelding El Ganador from Austria took silver, followed, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, by Tereza van Malderen from the Czech Republic, who finished less than two percentage points behind in bronze. It was the first Grand Prix Special for the Belgian-based Czech rider, and she managed to avoid any major mistakes on Quantum Leap van’t Genthof, scoring 66.277% to finish in the top three.

“I wasn’t really expecting this because I was nervous. This was our first Grand Prix Special and it’s completely different from a Grand Prix. It was impossible for us to say how the horse would react, but he was great, he did not hold back, so we are very happy now,” said a visibly moved Tereza van Malderen.

“First of all, I am delighted that I have been able to restore my horse’s reputation in the one-step change, because we did not do well in the Grand Prix on Friday. Today he showed how well he can jump them, very straight, one after the other without any mistakes. We still have a lot of work to do. I’d like to show the kind of passage and piaffe that we can do at home, when I feel the horse better in my hand and he really wants to do something. That is what the judges like to see as well, more dynamic reactions from the horse. Today I tried to keep him more compact than he was in the Grand Prix, to make him a bit more chunky and round. I was hoping for something around 67%, but the main judge told me that I had lost a lot of points because of distance inaccuracies, and those metres cost me a lot, I have to remember that for my future competitions,” said the most successful Czech rider in this category. Another Czech rider – Ema Kopuletá with her gelding Forrest Gump – is also a newcomer to the grand tour. She scored 64.489% in the Grand Prix Special and finished seventh behind the Slovakian rider Michael Bugan and his gelding Floretto DK.

On Sunday, Czech riders continued to perform well in the lower classes. In the children’s category, Anna Marie Křížová achieved a hat-trick of victories on her mare Diamantina. Michal Knoflíček also achieved a double victory at the event. On Sunday he won the Intermediate I freestyle with Dublin.

Czech representatives continued to do well in lower difficulty level competitions on Sunday. In the children’s category, Anna Marie Křížová on her mare Diamantina enjoyed a winning hat-trick. Michal Knoflíček also took double victory at the event. On Sunday he won Intermediate I freestyle competition with Dublin.

1st place: Leonie Bramall – Cricket BD (CAN) – 68,872 %

2nd place: Anna Kleindienst-Jilly – El Ganador (AUT) – 67,936 %

3rd place: Tereza van Malderen – Quantum Leap van´t Genthof (CZE) – 66,277 %

Photo: Josef Malinovský (ESC Olomouc)