Mary Hanna and Calanta in the Grand Prix.

© Hippo Foto – Dirk Caremans

Mary Hanna has Paris 2024 in her sights

By Equestrian Life

Australia’s oldest athlete at the Games and a six-time Olympian, Mary Hanna, has no plans of slowing down following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and says that Paris 2024 is on her radar.

On Saturday, Mary rode the beautiful Calanta to a score of 67.981% in the Grand Prix, ranking 6th in their qualifying group. While it wasn’t perhaps the score she was hoping for after a couple of costly mistakes in the tempi changes, it was nevertheless a beautiful performance. And Calanta as always looked an absolute picture, courtesy of “the best groom in the world” Casey Louise.

“Calanta gave me a good feeling in her test although (she was) feeling the heat a bit at the end. Expensive errors in changes killed my score,” said Mary via Australian Equestrian Team media following the test.

“I’ve been doing this for so long now. Riding’s one of those amazing sports where you can do it no matter what your age is, or your gender. It’s a fantastic sport like that. So as long as I feel fit enough to ride a horse, I’ll keep going. Because it’s what I love to do, it’s my life. It’s everything to me.”

Equestrian Australia has since reported that Mary has Paris 2024 in her sights.

“It’s only three years away. Unless my body really breaks down, I’m certainly aiming for Paris. You always dream that your next horse, your next competition, that you’re going to make it better. You just keep striving to do the absolute best you can. The Olympics is a lot about participation, too, so just being here is great. I think it’s getting a little bit late to aim for a gold medal, but I’m not giving up.”

Of course, the World Championships are only a year away in Herning, Denmark, so it’s possible we’ll see Mary again representing Australia on the world stage sooner rather than later!

Read the full report from the Grand Prix dressage here.

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