AACHEN,, Germany--Defending World Champions Charlotte Fry of Great Britain on Glamourdale won the gold meal in the Grand Prix Special at the FEI Dressage World Championship on Friday, Aug 14.
Christian Simonson on Fleau de Baian (Photo by Sarah Miller for MacMillan Photography)Fry's score continue to climb throughout the test, eventually finishing on 82.295%.
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour of Denmark on Mount St John Freestyle won the silver medal on 80.927, while Katharina Hemmer of Germany on Denoix PCH won the bronze with 80.866.
Christian Simonson on Fleau deBaian, the only American to qualify for the Grand Prix Special, finished 29th of the 30 qualifiers on 68.456.
Simonson, a very young up-and-coming superstar is America's hope for the future.
"Fleau felt actually amazing in the ring today," said Smonson. "He felt so good and so with me each step. The passage work and the extension work I was so happy with. I had a little mistake coming into the the first half passes, where I did some changes."
"But I'm so happy with him and the team," he said. "It's been an amazing journey. And I feel very grateful to get to learn and grow as I'm continuing my career. I think that was an example of that today, and so I'm just very happy to be here and happy with today."
Simonson competed in Aachen as a Young Rider and then in the Pan Am Games.
"Yeah, it's been a kind of a whirlwind," he said. "I have unbelievable levels of gratitude when I think of the journey. I've written down so many goals, like competing at a Pan Ams or competing in a World Cup."
"So these past five years or so or since 2023, even the past three years, have felt like so much of a whirlwind, but it's so much and so many thanks to give," said Simonson.
AFTER A relatively quiet season with few competition appearances, Charlotte Fry featured in relatively few predictions for the top three.
Charlotte Frye on Glamourdale (Photo by Sarah Miller for MacMillan photo)DSC 5935However, she once again showed that she and Glamourdale must be taken seriously.
After their surprise victory in Herning, Fry and Glamourdale proved they are here to stay, reclaiming the gold medal with a commanding lead.
“It’s still quite a blur what just happened. We were both completely focused, he had so much power, stayed relaxed and happy. The more I asked, the more I got. I didn’t even dare to dream about defending our title among all those amazing riders and horses,” said Fry.
Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle were perhaps the hot favourites for the title, but their score of 80.927% left them just short of gold. An error in the one-time changes and some uncertainty in the second pirouette lowered their score slightly.
Bronze went to Hemmer Denoix PCH, who moved ahead of her legendary compatriot Isabell Werth.
With 80.866%, Hemmer came remarkably close to Laudrup-Dufour, but ultimately had to settle for bronze.
