British dressage team win silver in Rotterdam

Great Britain claimed a silver medal in Rotterdam at the Para-dressage at the European Championships.

The British quartet of Sophie Wells, Georgia Wilson, Nicky Greenhill and Mari Durward-Akhurst finished second behind hosts Holland.

Triple Paralympic champion Wells, 29, claimed silver in the Para-dressage Grade V freestyle event on Thursday, while Wilson, Greenhill and Durward-Akhurst were all making their championship debuts.

Wells said: “Historically we’ve been so strong but the other nations have put money and time into developing the sport. Have no fear though, we’ll be hunting them down in Tokyo.”

The performance underlined the strength in depth in Great Britain’s talent pathway - and the tough selection choices facing team officials ahead of next year’s Paralympics.

Team GBR Performance Director Vikki Underwood said: “To be honest I;m fairly speechless. We send a team with three combinations who have never competed on a senior team before, throw in a vast number of unforeseen challenges into the mix, and have so far come out with two silver individual medals, and a team silver medal.

“Sophie Wells is the veteran of the team and has been a massive support to the debutants, as has her coach and mentor Angela Weiss. This result continues to demonstrate GB’s domination within the sport of Para-Equestrian Dressage with a solid strength and depth of exciting combinations coming through the system.”

Picture credit: © BEF / JON STROUD MEDIA