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Traurig on Etienne Comes Through Associated Press SYDNEY, Australia -- A clutch performance on the last ride of the day gave the United States an Olympic bronze medal in team dressage. Christine Traurig of Carlsbad, Calif., riding Etienne, moved the United States to 5,166 points, 17 ahead of Denmark on Wednesday. Germany won the gold with 5,632 points, and the Netherlands took silver with 5,579. Traurig wasn't told before her ride that she needed to score a personal best on Etienne to bring the bronze home. She scored 1,746 points, or 69.84 percent. "It's unbelievable how close things can be," she said. "It's good not to know. You just go in and do your best." "We tried not to let her know," said her teammate Susan Blinks of Wellington, Fla., who rode the day before. The United States put in four solid rides in the two-day competition, including 1,695 points (67.8 percent) earned by Guenter Seidel of Del Mar, Calif., on Foltaire earlier in the day. That was added to the 1,725 points (69.0 percent) earned by Blinks on Flim Flam on Tuesday. Robert Dover of Flemington, N.J., on Ranier had the drop score for the United States of 1,678 (67.12 percent). The team medals are decided by the top three scores from each team. The Danes had two good scores but had to balance them against two low scores and couldn't make up the difference. Lady Luck and Mother Nature also contributed to the U.S. medal. The Americans drew later rides, which meant the five judges had already sized up their competition. The United States also avoided pelting rain Tuesday and the deepest footing left over from that rain Wednesday morning. "The footing was fantastic when I rode," said Blinks. "It was not an issue for me." Seidel said the muddy ring surface did lead to some mistakes by Foltaire. It was much drier when Etienne went two hours later. "The footing was not optimal, and Foltaire was feeling a little insecure," Seidel said. "He also missed two weeks of training here after he had colic. He was a little weak, but he put in a very good effort. I was hoping for a 68 percent, but the score was right on." The leading riders included Isabell Werth of Germany on Gigolo with 1,908 (76.32 percent), followed by her six-year rival Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands on Bonfire with 1,875 (75.0 percent), and Coby van Baalen of the Netherlands on Ferro with 1,873 (74.92 percent). All of the U.S. riders were among the top 25 riders and thus eligible to continue in the individual competition Friday. Traurig finished 10th, Blinks 12th, Seidel 15th and Dover 17th. Traurig already was looking forward to her next ride on Etienne. "There's still more in there," she said. "He's a wonderful horse." U.S. coach Jessica Ransehousen must decide which rider to drop before Friday because only three can contest the individual medals for each country. The United States has now won team bronze in three consecutive Olympics, each time finishing behind Germany and the Netherlands. This also was Dover's fifth consecutive Olympics. "It was a dream being on my third bronze team," said Dover. Equestrian action here turns to the team show jumping competition Thursday. The U.S.jumpers finished in the middle of the pack in a qualifying competition Monday. The dressage team bronze was added to individual gold and team bronze won by U.S. three-day riders last week. |  | ALSO SEE U.S. sits in third halfway through team dressage Garson eliminated from individual event after fall U.S. to have first all-woman show jumping squad O'Connor wins gold in individual three-day event | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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