![]() ![]() “I would like to add that clearly this is a team sport, however, as a rider the hours of dedicated work and the partnership between horse and rider is invaluable. It has been an honor for me to finally compete as part of the Greek team and I hope it is the start of more events together in the future. “The culmination of many months of hard work by my support team came together and the results Zidane and I achieved in the Team, Individual and Freestyle tests have been an outstanding success. “The organisation of this event has been impressive and the support shown to me by fellow Greek team members has been overwhelming. “To be a competitor at the Balkan Championship here in Athens at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre has been a privilege for me as a member of the Hellenic Dressage Team!” said 14-year-old Livanos. Livanos steered Zidane to a mark of 74.600 to finish more than three points ahead of Stojanov who claimed individual Freestyle silver, while a score of 66.104 was good enough to put Turkey’s Dila Akbacakoglu and Amore E Gloria into bronze. But the Greek rider reigned supreme in Saturday’s Individual medal decider and then came out to add Sunday’s Freestyle honours in convincing style. The highest score of the Junior Team competition was posted by Serbia’s Bojana Stojanov with Hamlet VD Stuyver, with Livanos next best on that occasion. Bronze went to Bulgaria’s Katerina Tsvetanova (preslav), Mirela Raikova (Ludrecia), Stephanie Nesheva (Don Corleone) and Irina Nikolova (Marc Antony Z). And this gave them just over a single percentage point advantage over the silver medallists – Dila Akbacakoglu (Amore E Gloria), Irem Kaplan (Zayson) and Derin Lara Ekici (Polygraf) – from Turkey. However team-mates Lavinia Macropoulou with Widoc Timbre and Elisavet Maika with Sir Kavalier scored 67.014 and 62.297 respectively to leave the hosts on an aggregate score of 63.437 percent. And the Greeks did well to come out on top after Eleni Retsou was eliminated with Fairytale. Greek athlete, Theodora Livanos, was impressive here when leading her team to victory with a mark of 67.014 partnering her 12-year-old grey Lusitano stallion Zidane. The first medals of the 2016 edition were presented on the opening day last Friday, when the Junior and Senior team results were confirmed. The FEI Balkan Dressage Championships celebrated their 49th anniversary this year. The event was staged, for the second time, at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Markopoulo, with competitors from Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey taking on the host nation contenders. Judges Orsolya Hillier (HUN), Yang Chamg-Kyoo (KOR), Natalia Rubashko (BLR), Fouad Hamoud (ALG) and Anne Prain (FRA) had a busy time of it, with a full-on three-day programme of competition. (L to R): Bulgaria’s bronze medallists Stephanie Neseva, Irina Nikolva, Mirela Raikova and Katerina Tvetanova the newly-crowned Greek champions Elisavet Maika, Lavinia Macropoulou, Eleni Retsou and Theodora Livanos: and Turkey’s silver medallists Dila Akbackaloglu, Iren Kaplan, Derin Lara Ekici and Lara Tumay. A happy moment on the podium during the presentation of the Junior Team medals at the FEI Balkan Dressage Championshps 2016 in Athens (GRE) last weekend. However Vanda Ljolje ensured it wasn’t all one-way traffic when taking the Children’s Individual title back to Croatia following a stunning final performance with her brilliant Belgian-bred pony mare, Ashen Dew Drop. ![]() Press release FEI – It was a glorious weekend for Greek athletes as they claimed gold in nine of the 10 categories at the FEI Balkan Dressage Championships 2016 on home ground in Athens (GRE). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |