LONDON – Charlotte Dujardin of Britain won the London Games individual dressage gold medal Thursday on Valegro, scoring 90.089 percent in the deciding grand prix musical freestyle which featured Olympic theme music and chimes from Big Ben. Adelinde Cornelissen of the Netherlands, riding Parzival, won silver, while Britain's Laura Bechtolsheimer on Mistral Hojris took the bronze. World Cup champion Cornelissen scored 88.196 and Bechtolsheimer had 84.339. Cornelissen picked music from “Nutcracker Suite” and Bechtolsheimer music from “The Lion King” to highlight their horses' best athletic attributes. Britain also won team gold in dressage earlier this week, beating Germany and the Netherlands. The three medals, including two golds, were the first Olympic dressage medals ever won by Britain. “Wait for me,” Dujardin called to Valegro as she dismounted after the medal ceremony and he started for the barn without her. She planted a kiss on his nose and then went back to wave her medal to the crowd with a tear-streaked face and huge grin. Earlier in the day, Dutch rider Anky van Grunsven and Salinero, winners of gold in the two previous Olympics, thrilled the crowd with the horse's farewell Olympic appearance, scoring 82.00 to finish seventh, an excellent score for an older horse. “I'm proud of him that he's 18 years old and showed that he still belonged here,” said van Grunsven. American rider Steffen Peters did not have as successful a swan song for his last competitive ride on Ravel. — AP
