Olympics in Paris

Failure in music free skate, but Max-Theurer satisfied

Victoria Max-Theurer

(Bild: AP)

For the second time in six Olympic nominations, Victoria Max-Theurer took part in the musical freestyle of the top 18 in Paris on Sunday. Even though her score of 75.375 points with her gelding Abegglen did not match her 13th place from London 2012, the rider with the most Olympic experience in the ÖOC team finished her adventure not far from the Palace of Versailles in 17th place. "I am very, very satisfied, very happy," summarized Max-Theurer.

As in Tokyo, Germany's Jessica Bredow-Werndl took gold on Dalera with 90.093 percentage points ahead of her compatriot, dressage icon Isabell Werth on Wendy (89.614). Bronze went to Great Britain's Charlotte Fry on Glamourdale with 88.971 percentage points.

Victoria Max-Theurer

(Bild: GEPA/Harald Steiner - Fotografie)

By this time, Max-Theurer had long since dismounted. As the fifth pair in the 18-rider field to enter the arena, which was bordered on three sides by packed grandstands, there was a moment of shock at the start of the freestyle when Abegglen was distracted. "That was a relatively costly mistake," said Max-Theurer. "I didn't get the transition into the piaffe well enough and then Abi (Abegglen) realized that there were people walking in the corner at the back. He took a quick look at them and then concentrated again. So the first piaffe and transition were unfortunately a bit of a disaster."

Everything else went well until shortly before the end of the presentation, until the last piaffe. She had not ridden the freestyle for a year and was two days behind the music during training. "So I thought I had to step on the gas. Now I was a bit ahead of it. This resulted in an ending that wasn't quite right. I then had to tinker a bit. But he listened to me well and I'm pleased with the way he refocused and stayed with me. And I think there were also a few nice things, alternating pirouettes."

Absolute reward 
One or two more points could have been scored, but it would have been difficult with a mistake at the beginning. "If you have an uncertainty there, the points don't come in the same way for the rest of the test. But I'm very happy with how he presented himself. I think you can be very happy and satisfied to be among the best 18 in the world. It is an absolute reward for the past eight years, as she was unable to compete in Tokyo (Abegglen's festering molar, ed.). "We're going home with a very, very good feeling."

She now wants to focus more on the freestyle again, as she lacked a bit of routine in the freestyle lines. "The whole focus was on the team test and the Grand Prix. She had already ridden the freestyle to classical music from Mozart to Verdi before the Tokyo Games, but had rarely ridden it. "The music is great. I think it suits him (Abegglen) perfectly." You look for a line that suits the horse and you can play to its strengths. "He is a very stately and very impressive horse - and the music brings a bit of that with it."

Open to competing in Los Angeles 2028
The 38-year-old described her sixth Games as particularly lively and exciting. "The venue is amazing, it's very hard to top that. For me, it's most like London in terms of the character of the Games, with the stadium high on three sides and with this expansive view - in London it was into the city, up to the castle. The conditions are outstanding, whatever your heart desires." Now it's time to take a breather and plan for the fall." She is not yet sure about Los Angeles 2028. "Now we're enjoying the fact that we've got it right."