Olympic dressage competition joins the ranks of ice dancing with accusations of nationalism in judging. In the Grand Prix Freestyle, held last night, Germany's Isabell Werth earned a score of 78.100 percent to win the individual silver medal despite a major disobedience by her mount, Satchmo, who backed and bucked instead of piaffing at one point during their ride. It was essentially a repeat of the...
I can't count the number of Olympic medal ceremonies I've watched on TV over the years. I even got to see one in person when I attended the 1996 Atlanta Games and saw Germany's Isabell Werth on Gigolo win the individual dressage gold medal over the Netherlands' Anky van Grunsven on Bonfire. As thrilling as that experience was, last night I learned that nothing compares to hearing one's own national...
