Fry & Glamourdale Soar to Double Gold

Charlotte Fry has achieved gold status with Glamourdale Airlines.

The playful intro to her music welcomed the crowd to Glamourdale Airlines, and every person in that stadium was on board with her as they gasped at expressive and rhythmic flying changes, cheered her passage down the centerline, and did not hold back when the announcer revealed the test results starting with a 92.250%.

The seven judges’ scores averaged to a 91.907%—a smashing personal best for Fry.

The win capped a positively banner week for the British rider, who captured team silver and double individual gold medals in the Grand Prix Special and the Freestyle.

“It was my test of a lifetime!” cried a thrilled Fry of her Freestyle. “It couldn’t be better for me. It was just so enjoyable and I just kept smiling in the test. Then I was like, oh, concentrate, like, we’re at the World Championship! Glami’s just performed beyond all expectations.

“[The atmosphere in the stadium] was amazing and, to be honest, when you go in, you know there’s a huge atmosphere but you don’t really look up to see what’s going on around you. You’re so focused, but you can feel everyone there, and especially when he does an extended canter, I can hear them—which is really cool—and I think he likes it as well. I’ve never ridden in quite an arena like that.”

With the championship she’s had at Aachen, defending both her Herning individual titles, it’s safe to say that Charlotte Fry has earned permanent gold status with Glamourdale Airlines.

The rest of the field, however, had their own dramatic stories to tell.

Only eighteen competed for the FEI Dressage World Championships Individual Grand Prix Freestyle. With musical scores running the gamut from ABBA to the Beatles to David Bowie to movie soundtracks, the excitement kept the crowd on the edge of their seats—celebrating the highest marks and acknowledging the lowest ones, which rarely dipped below 80%.

That electric atmosphere led to personal bests and some major upsets. The most notable was Great Britain’s Carl Hester and Fame. Tension crept into Fame, which began at the entrance to the ring and led to big spooks coming into his first canter pirouette. The resulting 82.304% left him in seventh place.

A mistake in the flying changes by Isabell Werth opened the door for the chasing pack. She ultimately earned bronze. The German legend, despite the error, played with the crowd enthusiastically as she exited the ring.

“I could roughly guess what was possible here, what kind of atmosphere there was,” she remarked, comparing her experience this year to the Aachen World Games in 2006. “I think that was already the right statement to say. With one mistake, a score can drop to a five or a six very quickly. [We] are fighting for the individual medals and that’s how it turned out.

“Of course, I really wanted to get a spot on the podium. The signs were not 93, but I still left no stone unturned and that was just an unbelievably great feeling.”

Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour rode to the individual silver for the second day in a row with Mount St John Free Style. While the result was the same, her response to the medal was a complete 180 from the day prior.

“Today I’m over the moon!” she exclaimed. “Yesterday I really felt that I lost the gold because of my performance. But today, whether it’s gold, silver or bronze, I feel that I won this medal. She was flying in there with me and I’m above the moon with the performance. She was just absolutely fantastic.”