Lyndal Oatley Withdraws Both Elvive & Eros from Contention for Australia’s Oympic Team, Citing Inexperience of Horses
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June 4, 2021
Lyndal Oatley announced Friday she has withdrawn Elvive and Eros from contention for a place on Australia’s Olympic team, citing the inexperience of both horses at Big Tour.
Lyndal, based in Germany who rode Sandro Boy on Australia’s teams at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, has earned qualifying scores on both Elvive and Eros for the team of three and a reserve at the Tokyo Games at the end of next month. Elvive was ridden by Lyndal in the 12-year-old KWPN mare’s first CDI Grand Prix last month while Eros, 12-year-old KWPN gelding, first competed at Big Tour last October and since then in one other Grand Prix. Both horses are owned by her parents, Carol and Andrew Oatley. She is married to Swedish Olympian Patrik Kittel and the pair have a young child.
“It is with great disappointment that I announce I have made the difficult decision, in consultation with my family and husband/trainer, to withdraw my horses Elvive and Eros from Tokyo 2020 Olympic contention,” she said.
“To represent your country at the Olympic Games is the ultimate goal and a privilege for any athlete. However, the impact of Covid-19 has presented significant challenges and has placed constraints on our preparation. Although both horses have qualified for the Games, Elvive and Eros are inexperienced at international level. While they show great promise for the future I feel it’s too much to ask of both horses to be in the form I would want them to be in for the Games. My horses’ wellbeing will always come first, and we will instead look ahead to the World Equestrian Games in 2022.”
Restrictions in Australia around Covid-19 have devastated the international competition calendar with no qualifying CDIs staged there for 16 months.
Lyndal’s withdrawal leaves five riders qualified for the Australian team:
–Simone Pearce, based in Germany, with Destano and Amandori
–Mary Hanna, based in Australia, with Calanta and Syriana
–Kristy Oatley, based in Germany, and Du Soleil
–Kelly Layne, based in the United States, with Samhitas
–Lone Jorgenson, based in Australia, with Corinna
