British riders claim glory in dressage as Team GB pass Beijing mark with 20th gold
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Great Britain's dressage riders won gold and landed their first title in Olympic history.
Barely 24 hours after the British showjumping team clinched a first gold medal for 60 years, the dressage trio of Carl Hester, Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin also triumphed at Greenwich Park.
Britain had never previously won an Olympic dressage medal, which underlines the magnitude of their achievement.
Give us a wave: Hester celebrates after competing in the team dressage grand prix special
Heart-stopper: Charlotte Dujardin celebrates after riding her horse, Valegro, to team dressage gold
Reach for the stars: Laura Bechtolsheimer rises her arm after her ride on Mistral Hojrisin
What is dressage?
In dressage, the horse performs a carefully choreographed routine of movements that showcases the animal's training: prancing trots, extended strides, twirling pirouettes and a move called the flying change, which looks like the horse is skipping.
And the comprehensive victory gave Britain a total of 20 golds at one Games, a post-war record that eclipses the haul in Beijing four years ago.
Britain went into the Games as team title favourites, given their outstanding run of form during the past 18 months.
And they delivered by the bucket-load in today's grand prix special - the second part of the team test - as Hester broke Dutch star Anky van Grunsven's Olympic record on Uthopia, before his training partner Dujardin bettered his score just 90 minutes later.
Rule Britannia: The crowd at Greenwich Park show their appreciation for yet another British gold medal
With Bechtolsheimer delivering a solid performance in between, Britain proved uncatchable, with Germany second and Holland third.
Britain finished on a score of 79.97 per cent - the team scores from both team tests are averaged out to give the final result - while Germany posted 78.21 per cent and Holland 77.12 per cent.
It meant that Germany's run of seven successive Olympic team titles came to an end.
Hester told BBC 1: 'Both those girls are cool customers.
On the hoof: Germany's dressage rider Helen Langehanenberg performs with her horse, Damon Hill
Glory: Team GB claimed their 20th gold of the Games at the Equestrian venue in Greenwich Park
'Charlotte is unbelievable for the amount of time she's been riding, and the horse is also unbelievable - he's the best horse in the world.
'As with every sport that has won a gold medal at this Games, it has just shot our sport into a totally different league.
'This is my fourth Olympics, and it's actually a very weird feeling for me, because three Olympics I've gone with no expectations and it's actually quite easy to ride like that.
Looking good: Judges watch Dujardin riding Valegro in the team dressage grand prix special
'To come to an Olympics where we were possibly expected to get a gold medal gave me a frightening feeling, and I quite enjoyed it.
'I am looking forward to it all being over, to get the individual competition out of the way now, but it's a truly special minute for everyone in British dressage.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2184976/London-2012-Olympics-Great-Britain-dressage-team-win-gold-medal.html#ixzz22sPoE7PU
