Dinja van Liere has completed the dressage world championships to dream of. The rider from Uden won the bronze medal in the Grand Prix Special on Monday in Herning, Denmark. A day earlier, she qualified with the Dutch team for the Nations Cup during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Van Liere and her horse Hermès scored 79.407 points. The victory went to Charlotte Fry. The British achieved 82.508 points with Glamourdale. Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, who rode in front of a home crowd, was good for silver. With Vamos Amigos she came to a total of 81,322.
2022 great year
2022 can therefore no longer be broken for the almost 32-year-old Van Liere. A year ago she would normally have been allowed to participate in the Tokyo Olympics. However, an administrative error by the international federation, FEI, could not be rectified in time. She went ‘only’ as a spare.
Van Liere was not depressed by this setback. In fact, she had every confidence in a good World Cup, a tournament she had never participated in before. Van Liere was considered a serious competitor in the Danish arena. Last year she won a top competition in the renowned competition in the German city of Aachen and earlier this year she became national champion with Hermès.
‘Goal clear test’
With her compatriots, Van Liere finished fifth in the Nations Cup. A place in the top six was enough for an Olympic ticket. But Van Liere was far from satisfied. She also wanted to perform at the top during the individual competition. “The goal was to set up a clear test,” she says on the website of the equestrian association KNHS.
“Everyone said to me: Just go one step further. But in consultation with my trainer Rieky Young, I decided not to do that, but to want to remain error-free. That worked. I am very happy with this.”
Yet Hermès startled her twice. “But we didn’t have any major mistakes. In it you see that Hermès is becoming more mature and more experienced. Still, it could be even better.”
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