On Day 3 of the Asian Games 2023, India clinched its third gold medal as the Equestrian team secured the top spot on the podium in the dressage event.
India achieved a significant milestone at the Asian Games 2023 when its Equestrian team claimed the gold medal in the dressage event. Anush Agarwalla, Hriday Chheda, Divyakriti Singh, Sudipti Hajela, and their respective horses combined to achieve a score of 209.205, bringing India its first gold in the sport in 41 years. The last time India tasted gold in equestrian was at the 1982 Games in New Delhi when Raghubir Singh won a gold in eventing individual. The last medal in dressage, a bronze, was secured during the 1986 edition.
The Indian team staged a remarkable comeback after initially dropping to third place, allowing China and Hong Kong to take the lead. Still in contention for a bronze medal, Anush and his horse Etro scored 71.088, securing the second position in the individual rankings. With contributions from other team members, India surged to the top spot and claimed victory after a grueling 10-hour competition. Chheda and Emerald, Divyakriti and Adrenalin Firdod, as well as Sudipti and Chinski, played crucial roles in ending India’s gold medal drought on Day 3 of the Games.
What is Dressage? Dressage, often referred to as the captivating art of ‘dancing horses,’ represents the pinnacle of horse training and is widely regarded as the most challenging yet artistic discipline within Olympic equestrian sports. In this discipline, both athletes and horses perform a meticulously choreographed sequence of movements at the walk, trot, and canter, with all routines executed entirely from memory.
A panel of judges situated around the arena assigns scores to these movements, typically ranging from 0 to 10, which are subsequently converted into a percentage-based score. These intricate movements include the passage, piaffe, pirouette, and half pass.
Competition for both team and individual medals unfolds over three rounds within a rectangular arena measuring 60 meters by 20 meters. Each team consists of three athletes, and their combined scores determine the team’s overall performance. Substitutions can be made for medical or veterinary reasons if necessary.