Laurentia Tan finishes fifth in Paralympic dressage, advances to freestyle final

SINGAPORE – Singapore equestrienne Laurentia Tan and her horse Hickstead have qualified for the Sept 7 freestyle final of the dressage individual event (Grade I) at the Paris Paralympics.

The five-time Paralympian, who has cerebral palsy and profound deafness, finished fifth out of 22 riders at the Chateau de Versailles on Sept 3 with a score of 72.000, which was enough for the 45-year-old to clinch a top-eight spot to advance.

The 22-strong field was topped by Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Latvia’s Rihards Snikus, who scored 79.167 to finish ahead of American Roxanne Trunnell (78.000) and Italy’s Sara Morganti (74.625).

Tan’s teammate Gemma Foo and her horse Banestro placed 11th with 68.917.

Tan said of her routine: “I thought Coco (nickname for Hickstead) was really fantastic, he was focused and calm. He also had a lovely, forward rhythm, which meant I was able to enjoy the ride more, and together, we achieved a really good, smooth test.

“It can be challenging when you have my starting time, (which) is quite late in the day, but it gives me a chance to settle into the competition and hence how he and I might perform in such a strong field. 

“It also gives me a chance to get a feel for how Coco is feeling that day, and adapt accordingly.”  

Both riders will be joined by Hilary Su in the dressage team event on Sept 6 at 9.30am (3.30pm, Singapore time).

Debutante Su finished 12th out of 13 in the dressage individual event (Grade III) and did not advance to the final. The United States’ Rebecca Hart finished first, ahead of Rixt van der Horst of the Netherlands and Britain’s Natasha Baker respectively.

Tan said that for her freestyle event, she would want to provide an “engaging performance” and “show off” her partnership with Coco.

She added: “The main difference for Paris has been having Coco. This means my riding has been slightly different to riding Banestro in the Tokyo Paralympic Games. The freestyle will be different to showcase Coco’s strengths.”

Earlier on Sept 3, Singapore swimmer Toh Wei Soong failed to qualify for the men’s 100m backstroke S7 final after clocking 1min 16.24sec to finish fifth out of five in his heat and ninth out of 10 overall.

Ukraine’s world record holder Yurii Shenhur finished first overall, clocking 1min 9.32sec, ahead of Russia’s Aleksei Ganiuk (1:13.24) and Italy’s Federico Bicelli (1:14.37).

Shenhur later took gold in the final in 1:09.51, with compatriot Andrii Trusov (1:10.42) taking silver and Bicelli (1:12.23) bagging bronze.

Toh will next compete in the men’s 50m freestyle S7 heats on Sept 4 at 10.57am (4.57pm, Singapore time).