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PAN
AMERICAN GAMES 2007 |
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UPDATE |
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NO:
6 |
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In her first major
sports festival Annabelle Collins rode her stallion Medici to a
remarkable 10th place finish in the Dressage final of the
2007 Pan American Games being held in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. |
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Annabelle reached
the final by placing 10th in the first round at Prix St.
George with a score of 65%. The team competition was decided by
the first round competition when 3 riders from the USA place first
with a combined score of 68.63%, Canada was 2nd with a
combined cored of 67.25% and Brazil was 3rd with 64.93%. |
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As the USA had
already qualified for next years Olympics the next two teams, Canada
and Brazil also qualified as countries. |
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The top 25
individuals of the first round qualified for the second round at
Intermediaire ! level when Annabelle placed 12th with a
score of 63.66%. |
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After a rest day on
Tuesday the top fifteen of the Intermediaire went through to the
final which was an Intermediaire Freestyle Kur. Annabelle’s ride to
music of Stevie Wonder gave her a score of 64.55% and a top ten
finish. Rider from USA, Canada and Dominican Republic finished in
the top 3 places. Unfortunately the local media had unfairly
identified Annabelle as an potential Pan Am Games medal winner.
Although that would have been a great achievement, it was never
really on the cards as Annabelle would be the first to admit, and
she is happy with a top ten placing. |
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Annabelle and
Medici will now head back to Europe where they will move up to the
Grand Prix test level, which is the level of competition required
for the Olympics. It will be difficult for Annabelle to qualify for
the 2008 Olympics, which will be held in Hong Kong in August, as in
order for individuals to qualify they must be highly placed in the
FEI World Rankings a system which has already started. |
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For Annabelle and
Medici to even get to the Pan Am Games was quite an achievement in
itself, due to the strict qualifying standards imposed by the
Bermuda Equestrian Federation and the Bermuda Olympic Association,
and the multitude of health and quarantine requirements imposed by
the Brazilian authorities. |
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Her success was due
to support from a large number of people, and a dedicated travelling
team of coach, groom, chef d’equipe and family members. There has
been tremendous support for Bermuda’s equestrian team from BEF
members, sponsors and members of the public in fund raising and
words of encouragement and our friends from the CEA countries and
from FEI Group IV. |
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We now look forward
to the Show Jumping competitions which starts after the weekend with
Patrick Nisbett riding Antille 8 and Jillian Terceira riding
Navantus. This weekend the eventing competition takes place in
which we do not have anyone competing. |
