Paralympic debutant Demi Haerkens wins gold in the Paralympic freestyle after individual gold and team silver. Riding her elegant and light-footed EHL Daula II N.O.P. to a new freestyle, she achieved a world record and a personal best score of 83.840%. Sanne Voets and Demantur RS2 N.O.P. finished just outside the medals in fourth place.

Demi Haerkens entered the beautiful arena of Versailles as the last combination with Daula (Gribaldi out of Kladaula keur, pref, prest by Michelangelo, breeders J.M. van Uytert from Heerewaarden and A. Barneveld from Zeist). Before her test, both German Niehues and American Shoemaker had already scored above 80%, setting a high bar. As they entered, Daula briefly reacted to the crowd, but after that, the pair danced through the test in perfect harmony and without mistakes.

“Everything is Coming True”
After her test, Haerkens enthusiastically said: “This is what I dreamed of and really hoped for, and it's all coming true. It’s unbelievable. I only received the new freestyle two weeks ago and didn’t have much time to practice everything, but it immediately felt so good, and today everything came together. The freestyle incorporates music by Vangelis, which Daula’s owners really love, so I wanted to include that. For me, the music from Era has a special meaning, so I added that as well. Daula also really enjoys performing to music. I just have to avoid making mistakes and enjoy myself, and then Daula always does her best. She certainly showed that again today."

Personal Best for Daula II
“I didn’t know what my competitors had scored before I entered the ring. I went in with the mindset that I just had to perform a very good test, and I succeeded. The score is a personal best, so I am really super happy. I have a whole team around me who have arranged everything perfectly—truly fantastic. Only then can you achieve such results, and I am very grateful for that. I was really very nervous this morning, but fortunately, I was able to stay calm. While warming up, I quickly felt that she was in great shape, and after that, it was mainly about enjoying it.”

Just off the podium for Demantur RS2 N.O.P.
Title defender Sanne Voets also delivered a nearly flawless freestyle with Demantur (Vivaldi out of Kaylee keur, prest, sport-dress by Elcaro, breeder A.M. Reuzenaar from Schaijk), but the combination lacked a bit of the expression needed for an even higher score. In this strong field of competitors, a commendable 79.880% was just not enough for a podium finish.

Second Silver for Highlander Delight’s
In addition to the Dutch gold medal in Grade IV, there was another silver medal in Grade V. German Regine Mispelkamp guided her Highlander Delight’s (Florencio out of Pijalda MW prest by Jazz, breeder P.G. van Berkel from Holten) to 80.100% and a beautiful silver medal.

You can read more about the achievements of these top horses in the next KWPN Magazine.

Results

Photo: Hippofoto