Dear Friends,
Arriving at the Paralympic Village, the scene was tremendous. How to know where you are? As the days passed, the Olympic atmosphere grew. Amanta arrived safely a day later; still as energetic as usual. From the first days, we shared the joy together to evolve on Olympic ground.
The opening ceremony? Indescribable sensation when entering the crowded stadium of Maracana with the Swiss Paralympic Team. Let the 2016 Paralympic Games begin!
At the Paralympic Village, I made new friendships and we were sharing experiences with each other. Plus that I had never been in such an inclusive place before!
My goal? To learn through experiencing. The pressure mounts little by little. On September 11th, it was the first test, the Team Test Grade III. I was competing in the largest category. Almost all riders had previous Games experience. Those were my fist! So what ? Another great opportunity on which to build on.
First round. I enter the arena. Halt. Salute to the judges. Straight afterwards, they were shooting. Did it come from the military zone next to the Olympic Arena? No, it came from the favelas. Amanta remains relaxed and continues listening attentively to me: she let everyone dream. It showed her strength of character and her strong and winning personality. This horse has a big heart. With several small mistakes that cost us many points, we finished 13th with 66.2%. A little disappointed because I used to do better. However, it is not easy to reproduce the same performance in this huge Olympic Stadium filled with many spectators this Sunday 11th of September. Before all, we learned a lot and I think that is the most important.
On September 13th, I competed in the Individual Championship Test Grade III, the decisive test. I was well prepared. Amanta was in a good shape. We could to show a good performance, better than the first one! I am very happy to have done this experience with my wonderful Amanta and my great team. We finished onthe 13th place again with 67.6%. The second result was better, but unfortunately not enough to qualify for the Freestyle. The results of all athletes were so close; I was only 5% away from the the best! When I stepped from my horse, directly going toward the “mixed zone” (media), I knew one thing:
“Rio will not be my last Games, I want a medal in Tokyo!” I felt more motivated than ever.
My goal? Tokyo 2020.
The intermediate steps? Two European Championships and the World Equestrian Games in 2018.
Amanta, I love her so much and I thank her so much for always giving me the best of herself. A huge thank you to my great team, many many thanks to my Sponsors and partners and thank you all for your support which lies close to my heart.
During the coming years, I will also continue my mission: to continue to try to inspire as much people as possible and to show that “Anything is Possible”! I gained a lot of experience that I will use to go further and to build on. It’s time to open a new chapter. Let’s go…
