Articles: Press Release
Dramatic Finale for Team USA in Kecskemet at 2009 FEI World Pair Driving
Championships
Photo © Rinaldo de Craen
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NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2009
Kecskemet, Hungary Team USA was in fifth position of the Team standings
after dressage and marathon at the 2009 FEI World Pair Driving Championship
in Kecskemet, but had a dramatic Final. Best placed US driver Larry
Poulin, who was lying in 10th place, missed a gate at the final obstacle
driving competition and was eliminated.
Because of his elimination, Poulins dressage and marathon scores in the Team
competition were stroked as well and this caused team USA to drop to the
12th place in the final standings of the Team competition.
It really is a shame, I wished for a different result for Larry at his last
World Championship, but this is the sport, commented chef dequipe Ed
Young. I have been there before and it is never nice, but there is nothing
we can do. The only thing Larry could say is that he was sorry, and of
course we all accepted.
Keady Cadwell put down the best performance in the obstacle driving
competition. With her French trotter Finlandio and the KWPN gelding Uniek
she drove a very fast course and nearly managed to stay in the time
allowed. She left the arena with only .56 penalty points for exceeding the
time but the three knockdowns unfortunately dropped her from the 13th to the
18th place in the final standings.
Lisa Singer was unable to speed her pair of Morgan horses up for the
extremely difficult cones course in which the time allowed was very
tight. Singer, at 61years old, is one of the veterans at the World
Championship in Kecskemet. She ended on the 37th place in her 8th World
Championships.
Individual driver Miranda Cadwell enjoyed competing in Kecskemet and
described her first participation in a World Pair Driving Championship as a
lot of fun. Next season, Miranda will be helping her elder sister Keady, who
will be driving a four-in-hand and try to qualify for the World Equestrian
Games in Kentucky 2010. Miranda came 48th in the overall competition.
After a nerve-wrecking obstacle driving competition, the Dutch took home
both individual and team gold. Marathon winner Harry Verstappen was on
silver before the cones competition, but the leader, Zoltan Lazar, gave
his gold medal away with three balls down and time penalties. Verstappen got
the gold, Lazar dropped to bronze and Beat Schenk from Switzerland went
home proudly with the silver individual medal.
The Dutch team kept their lead after dressage and marathon and won the Team
Gold medal for the first time since the first Open World Championships in
Montemaggiore in 1983. Host nation Hungary took silver and Germany won the
bronze medal.
ENDS
The attached photo of Keady Cadwell should be credited to Rinaldo de Craen
and used only in conjunction with this press release.
The vision of the United States Equestrian Federation(r) is to provide
leadership
for equestrian sport in the United States of America by promoting the
pursuit
of excellence from the grassroots to the Olympic Games, based on a
foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare
of its human and equine athletes.
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