2002 World Equestrian Games

They Didn't Win A Medal, But They Won Our Hearts Notable Rides At 2002 WEG

Not Her Day - Silvia Ikle and Romario

Possibly the most disappointed rider in the Grand Prix was Silvia Ikle of Switzerland on Romario. Ikle started out with a nice-looking test, but in the first piaffe, Romario showed resistance, backed up and finally stood on his hind legs and pawed the sky. Ikle trotted out of the spot and skipped the piaffe but did not seem to be able to re-gain her composure even though his next piaffe was quite good. Romario became unbalanced in the zig zag, then seemed to get a bit hot coming across the diagonal in extended canter, and after that, a rattled Ikle went off course, starting the pirouettes without doing the two and one tempis first. The judges rang the bell for the first and only time in the Games. Ikle regrouped to finish the test in a slight rush, but had a lovely final centerline. She gave Romario a quiet pat at the end of the unfortunate ride, but then smiled broadly as the crowd applauded her all the way out of the arena. In spite of the errors, Ikle earned 60.92% for a 59th place finish overall. This was the end of the Games for this rider who joined 40 others that did not qualify to ride in the Special.