Italian equestrian team: hope and excitiment at the European Championship
The Italian equestrian team has ignited a wave of anticipation and national pride as they embark on a captivating journey at the European Championships hosted in the iconic Milano San Siro. With their sights set on securing a spot at the Olympic Games, these talented riders are captivating audiences with their extraordinary skills and unwavering determination.
Milano San Siro has transformed into a theater of equestrian brilliance as the Italian team takes center stage. Against the backdrop of a challenging and meticulously designed course by renowned course designer Uliano Vezzani, these athletes have showcased their ability to navigate complexity with poise and precision.
After the first qualifier Italy is currently in 6th position, to fight for the golden ticket for the Olympic Games in Paris. The team built of four riders delivered the following results:
Emanuele Gaudiano riding Crack Balou (3.14) , Alberto Zorzi riding Highlight W, drop score following today’s competition he delivered the current drop score for Italy (7.02), Emanuele Camilli riding Odense Odeveld (1.18) and Giampiero Garofalo riding Max van Lentz Schrans (4.79), bringing Italy onto a total score of 9.42, bringing them on a current 3rd place standing for the golden ticket that 6 nations are fighting for during this European Championship.
We met with Italian Chef D’Equipe Marco Porro, with positive feedback on team Italy’s performance:
“I am satisfied with today’s performance from all of the riders, we are currently on 6th place that after a speed and handiness class is very satisfying since our team is not made up of the fastest riders, but I am happy. Tomorrow the first round of the Nations Cup will be difficult because it will be 160, but we are really aiming to do well and do our country proud especially since this championship is hosted by our nation. There is a lot of pressure but we are calm and will do our best.”
Emanuele Gaudiano was the first rider for team Italy to go in the ring and break the ice for himself and his fellow team mates, one fault kept him from jumping a clear round;
“ Uliano Vezzani built a very nice course today, for a table C it was not very big but very technical,there have been many faults. I have to say I am very happy with my performance, except for that fault I felt my horse was jumped very well. I came short into one line and I had to hold back for the Liverpool and that made us have a fault behind. I really hope that my team mates will be better than me. We will of course all keep doing and trying our best.”
Second in the ring for Italy was Alberto Zorzi, with two down he was today’s drop score for Italy:
“My course was not bad up until the first half, after that I had a fault in the combination, I already knew while watching the course that that combination was not going to be very easy for my horse, and in fact I did have a fault there, after that I made a short turn towards the second last fence and I had my second fault there. I was really hoping to have a better start. Tomorrow is another day so I hope to come back stronger and better for myself and team Italy”.
Emanuele Camilli was the third rider to go in for team Italy, with an outstanding clear round performed with his only 9yo gelding.
“My horse jumped incredible, I lost some times between 1 and 2 I could have done a few strides less, but I felt he was getting fresh between the first two fences so I didn’t ride towards the first distance. Tomorrow and Friday are a decisive day for us so I hope everything will go for the best. It was very important to have a good start, but with feet on the ground I would like to underline that tomorrow will be a different type of sport. So the next day’s will make a difference and a true selection.”
Fourth and last team rider to go in the ring was Giampiero Garofalo, thus this being his first championship appearance in the senior team he demonstrated to handle the pressure:
“I am satisfied with my horse today, he performed very well, unfortunately the fault was mine and I could have easily avoided it, nevertheless I am happy and my horse finished the course very well with a lot of energy for the upcoming days.”
Team vet Ugo Carrozzo informed us that all horses are in their best physical state:
“All horses are used to performing at a high 4 and 5-star level, so their physical condition is good all year round. Each individual horse has been getting ready well to have the horses in their best physical state. Today’s course did not really create a lot of physical effort for the horses since today’s table C class did not have many large oxers as we will see in tomorrow’s course. So the most important matter for the horses is that they have a good resistance and even more so on Friday because they will already be fatigued from the previous day of jumping at the highest level. For now, I have to say that all four team horses are in top shape and we hope it will remain like that”.
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