Shruti stakes claim for Paris Olympics with silver in Brno
India’s Shruti Vora, who created history earlier this month by becoming the first rider from the country to win a threestar Grand Prix dressage, staked her claim for a slot in the Paris Olympics by winning her second Minimum Eligibility Requirement (MER) score at the Brno Grand Prix in Czech Republic on Saturday.
Vora finished second with a score of 68.174% to earn the MER. As per International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), a rider has to register two MERs before the June 24 deadline to be eligible to qualify for the Paris Games.
“This is unbelievable. In fact, no word in English language can do justice to my feelings right now. Totally unglaublich (German for unbelievable)!” an ecstatic Vora told HT from Brno.
Astride her 12-year-old gelding Magnanimous, Vora was in stellar form throughout her nine-minute routine, and even led the sevenrider competition before being overtaken by Poland’s Katarzyna Milczarek (69.304 points). Germany’s Matthias Bouten completed the top three with 67.022 points.
One other Indian is in the fray for the Paris dressage slot — Anush Agarwalla, who also has the requisite MERs, and finished 20th in the Kronberg GP on June 21 with a score of 67.022 points, astride Sir Caramello Old. Agarwalla, 25, from Kolkata, got three MERs between October-December 2023, and the one in Kronberg was his only MER this year.
“I agree that Anush got his MERs within the qualifying window but he managed only one MER this year, which brings his current form into question. This year, Anush has been unable to get the scores while three of his four MERs prove little of his form or his horse’s fitness. No other country selects people based on past performances. My scores are better and more recent and I am confident of boarding the flight to Paris,” Vora said after Saturday’s stunning display.
To be sure, Vora has been on a sizzling run of late, and becoming the only Indian to win a GP-3 level event on June 7 in Slovenia underscored that. In the seven events she has participated in this year, Vora has secured a top-three finish in five of them. “A minimum 67% must be attributed twice to the Athlete/Horse combination by both a L4 judge and as an average from all judges in the competition, and the score must be achieved in a Grand Prix test at two different CDI3*/CDI4*/CDI5*/CDI-W/ CDIO events. Athletes and Horses must obtain the MER at events which take place from 1 January 2023 until the MER deadline of 24 June, 2024 included,” FEI’s selection criterion states.
According to the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI’s) selection criterion, “In case of more than one eligible athlete, the athlete with the highest average in Grand Prix out of the best four events in the past one year shall be chosen to participate.”*