Shruti Sneha, Pune
India won a third gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 on Tuesday as its equestrian team finished first in the dressage competition. With a combined score of 209.205, Anush Agarwalla, Hriday Chheda, Divyakriti Singh, Sudipti Hajela, and their horses brought India its first gold in the sport in 41 years. Raghubir Singh had earned a gold medal in individual eventing in the New Delhi Games in 1982, and the latest dressage medal—a bronze—came from the 1986 Olympics.
After falling to third position in the first period, the Indian team made an incredible comeback. enabling China and Hong Kong to continue as before. Anush and Etro scored 71.088, moving them into second place in the individual standings and keeping them in the running for a bronze medal. India seized the lead and claimed the top honors in a competition that lasted 10 hours with contributions from others. A gold medal for India was ultimately won on Day 3 of the Games by Chheda and Emerald (horse name), Divyakriti and Astride Adrenalin Firdod (horse), and Sudipti and Astride Chinski.
Dressage: What is it?
Dressage, also referred to as the mesmerizing art of “dancing horses,” is widely recognized as the most difficult yet aesthetic discipline in Olympic equestrian sports. It is the pinnacle of horse training.
In this sport, both riders and horses execute a painstakingly choreographed series of steps at the walk, trot, and canter, with every routine being performed completely from memory.
These moves receive scores from a panel of judges positioned around the arena, with scores normally ranging from 0 to 10, which are then transformed into a percentage-based score. The passage, piaffe, pirouette, and half pass are some of these complex maneuvers.
Three rounds of the competition take place in a 60 by 20-meter rectangular arena for both the team and individual medals. The performance of each team, which comprises three competitors, is determined by the sum of those athletes’ individual scores. If necessary, substitutions can be made for veterinary or medical reasons.