Amelia White and Genius during arena familiarisation.

© Jon Stroud Media

Amelia White and Genius qualify for Freestyle in Tokyo

By Equestrian Life

Australian Para Equestrian Amelia White has scored 69.238% in the Grade V Individual Test with Genius, placing eighth and qualifying for the Freestyle on Monday.

It was a great Paralympic debut for Amelia, who is based in Germany. Supported by groom Anke Wilming, the pair looked picture-perfect throughout their test.

Speaking to Australia’s Equestrian High Performance media, Amelia said:

"It seems so surreal, it has been a dream for a very long time and you almost don’t let yourself believe it will happen because you don’t want to be disappointed, and then to be here it is going so quickly it is amazing.

"When I was riding down the final centreline I was thinking it can’t possibly be over - it was the longest and the shortest 5 minutes of my life. He gave me more than I thought he would give I can’t be any happier than I am with him and he is very young and it is our first major Championship so I really couldn’t have asked for anything than what he gave.

"I think there is more in the tank and we can definitely do more but for the moment I am extremely happy.”

The Grade V was won by Belgium’s Michele George and Best of 8 on 76.524%, while Great Britain’s Sophie Wells and Don Cara M took the silver on 74.4055 and Frank Hosmar of the Netherlands claimed the bronze riding Alphaville to a score of 73.405%.

Full results from the Grade V can be found here.

Emma Booth and Zidane will ride their Individual Test in the Grade III tonight at 9.12pm AEST. Best of luck to Emma!

View the start list here.

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