Notebook: Pan Am Results
U.S. TEAM EARNS 7 PAN AM MEDALS IN CHILE
The U.S. Equestrian Team had two goals in mind as they planned for the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games, which ran Oct. 21-Nov. 3. First, they had to qualify their jumping team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Second, as part of their long-term team development plan, the U.S. team wanted to give valuable bigstage experience to their up-and-coming dressage and event riders, since the USA had already qualified for next year’s Olympics in those sports.
LOCATION
The Pan Am equestrian venue was a Chilean military post called the Grenadier Regiment Riding School, located in the small community of San Isidro just outside the city of Quillota and about an hour and 50 minutes northwest of Chile’s capital city of Santiago.
Stunning views of the palm, eucalyptus and cacti-covered foothills of the Andes mountains were the backdrop for equestrian competition.
INTERNATIONAL TEAMS
The Canadian Equestrian Team came to Chile on a similar mission, needing to qualify for Paris in all three sports. Brazil had already qualified in jumping at last year’s World Championships in Denmark, but was seeking Olympic dressage and eventing spots.
Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia (among others) were also expected to send competitive teams. For home country Chile, it was all about pride. Eleven Pan American nations were represented in the dressage competition, nine in eventing, and 18 in show jumping.
SUMMARY OF MEDALS
The USA won the most medals of any nation in the Pan Am equestrian sports, with seven: three team (gold in dressage and show jumping and silver in eventing), and four individual (Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake: gold in eventing, Anna Marek and Fire Fly: bronze in dressage, Kent Farrington riding Landon and McLain Ward aboard Contagious: silver and bronze in jumping, respectively).
Brazil was next in the medal count with six: team silver in dressage and team bronze in eventing and show jumping; individual silver in dressage (João Victor Marcari on Feel Good VO); individual bronze in eventing (Marcio Carvalho Jorge on Castle Howard Casanova), and individual gold in jumping (Stephan de Freitas Barcha on Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio).
Canada was third in the medal count with a total of four: three team medals (eventing team gold, jumping team silver, and a team bronze in dressage), and individual bronze in eventing, won by Lindsay Traisnel on Bacyrouge.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
When the last dressage centerline was ridden and final eventing and jumping timers had been crossed, the U.S., Canada, and Brazil had accomplished their missions of being qualified for Paris 2024 in all three sports. Mexico’s jumping team punched their ticket for the Olympics, too.
Yet, the Pan Am Games are also about earning continental championship medals. Perhaps the biggest international equestrian headline of the Games was U.S.-based Ecuadorian rider Julio Mendoza Loor taking individual gold in dressage aboard his 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Jewel’s Goldstrike. It was the first equestrian sports medal of any color for Ecuador.
Visit www.horseillustrated.com/2023pan-american-games or scan the QR code for complete Pan Am coverage.