American athletes Fiona Howard and Rebecca Hart secured their third gold medal at Paris 2024 on the final day of Para Equestrian action.

The pair added to their Individual and Team golds with success in Saturday’s Freestyle competitions. Howard won the Grade II prize with Diamond Dunes, while Hart took Grade III with Floratina.

Photo – Fiona Howard (USA) grade 2 with Diamond Dunes. Paris 2024 Paralympics. (Copyright © FEI/Liz Gregg)

Indeed, all five Individual champions repeated their successes by scooping the honors in Freestyle. The Netherlands’ Demi Haerkens & Daula, Latvia’s Rihards Snikus & King Of The Dance and Belgium’s Michele George & Best Of 8 won Grade IV, Grade I, and Grade V respectively.

Team USA took their tally to seven medals overall – five golds, one silver and one bronze – to smash their previous Paralympic Games best of two golds and a bronze achieved at Atlanta 1996 and Tokyo 2020.

Special Touch

The Individual Para Grand Prix Freestyle to music marked the close of equestrian events at the Paralympic Games. The stands at the esplanade venue on the grounds of the iconic Palace of Versailles were sold out, as fans came to cheer for their favorites and see if Tuesday and Wednesday’s victors would double up on the gold.

The Freestyle test allows competitors to arrange compulsory elements in any order they choose in order to show off their horses’ abilities best. And unique musical accompaniment adds a special touch to each program.

No one could hold off Tokyo silver medalist Rihards Snikus in Grade I, the first class to compete. His score of 82.487 percent put him and King of the Dance ahead of Italy’s Sara Morganti and Mariebelle on 81.407 percent, who took the silver. The bronze medal went to Mari Durward-Akhurst of Great Britain and Athene Lindebjerg, who earned 77.747 percent.

Grade II was next in the ring, and it was Fiona Howard’s moment to shine once again. She and Diamond Dunes put 81.994 percent on the board, placing them more than two points ahead of silver medalists Georgia Wilson of Great Britain and Sakura, who picked up a bronze earlier in the week. Their score of 79.374 percent was in turn several points above bronze medalists Heidemarie Dresing and Dooloop (76.127 percent), members of the German team who also won bronze on Friday.

Demi Hits the Top

Demi Haerkens’ score of 83.840 percent with Daula in the Grade IV battle turned out to be the high score of the day across all grades. German athlete Anna-Lena Niehues and Quimbaya 6 accepted the silver medal in that category on 80.900 percent, beating out Tokyo Team bronze medalist Kate Shoemaker of the USA, who earned 80.170 percent with Vianne.

With Michèle George posting 81.470 percent with Best Of 8, Germany’s Regine Mispelkamp was pipped with Highlander Delight’s on 80.100 percent in the Grade V class. Great Britain’s Sophie Wells carried off the bronze in that competition with LJT Egebjergaards Samoa on 75.445 percent.

That left just Grade III to wrap up the day. Rebecca Hart put 83.534 percent on the board with Floratina for the gold. Rixt van der Horst of the Netherlands and Royal Fonq came close on 83.007 percent for the silver, whilst a score of 77.140 percent saw Natasha Baker of Great Britain earn a remarkable 10th Paralympic medal, taking the bronze with Dawn Chorus.

Results