Equestrian Preview
Equestrian events debuted at the Paralympic Games in 1996, and the U.S. has earned four medals since then — two of them gold — but none since 2004. In the years since Rebecca Hart finished fifth in Para dressage at the Paralympic Games Rio 2016, U.S. Equestrian in partnership with the U.S. Para-Equestrian Association has worked to increase support of the athletes and their horses. In May 2017, they appointed Michel Assouline as head of coach development and as a high-performance consultant, and in 2019, Assouline was named chef d’equipe and technical advisor of the program. There are currently nine Centers of Excellence in the U.S. where athletes and their horses can develop into medal-winning performers.
Team USA will send four athletes to Tokyo. Two of the returning Paralympians and one of the first-timers will look to match or improve upon their performances at the most recent World Equestrian Games in 2018. Three-time Paralympian Hart won two medals and Kate Shoemaker and Paralympian Roxanne Trunnell captured one apiece as Team USA won the first four medals in program history in Mill Spring, North Carolina. Three medals came on one remarkable day. Shoemaker won a bronze in the world freestyle championship Grade IV at her first World Equestrian Games. Trunnell, also competing at her first world championships, claimed a bronze in Grade I. And Hart took a silver in Grade III to go along with the bronze she won in the individual test event earlier in the week. Para-equestrian athletes are classified according to mobility, strength and coordination. The grades range from I for the most significant impairment to IV for the least impaired.
In addition to the four medals, the U.S. women finished a best-ever fifth in the team event. The team earned its qualification for the Tokyo Games in 2019 and is ranked No. 1 in the world as of the June 30, 2021, rankings. As of the same ranking, Trunnell is the top-ranked rider in the world. Hart ranks 12th and Shoemaker ranks 15th. The final member of the Paralympic team, Beatrice de Lavalette, ranks 34th. The U.S. Para dressage team won both of its international competitions at the beginning of 2020 before the season was sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Equestrian competition will take place Aug. 26-30, 2021, at the Equestrian Park in Tokyo. Medal events will take place from Aug. 26-27 in individual competition and Aug. 28-30 for team events. Unlike the Olympic program, dressage is the lone event in Para equestrian.
Updated on July 20, 2021. For more information, contact the sport press officer.