Russian Olympic Dressage Team–Inessa Merkulova/Mister X, Aleksandra Maksakova/Bojengels, Tatyana Kosterina/Diavolessa

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Inessa Merkulova and Mister X at the 2016 Olympics. © 2016 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

July 7, 2021

The Russian dressage team of Inessa Merkulova/Mister X, Aleksandra Maksakova/Bojengels and Tatyana Kosterina/Diavolessa was announced Wednesday. Maria Shuvalova/Famous Cross was named reserve.

The team:

* Inessa Merkulova, 56, and Mister X, 17-year-old Trakehner gelding, owned by Anatoly Merkulov and Victoria Merkulova
* Aleksandra Maksakova, 23, and Bojengels, 15-year-old KWPN gelding, owned by Johannes Rueben, Egor Shchibrik and Aleksandra
* Tatyana Kosterina, 43, and Diavolessa VA, 13-year-old Hanoverian mare, owned by Tatyana, Josef Scheele von Alven and Gisela von Alven
Reserve: Maria Shuvalova, 36, and Famous Cross, 11-year-old KWPN gelding, owned by Maria and Diana Ilyumzhinova

Tokyo will be the second Olympics for Inessa and Mister X, the top ranked Russian combination, that competed at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. The pair also rode at the 2014 and 2018 World Equestrian Games, at five World Cup Finals from 2014 through 2018 as well as the 2015 and 2017 European Championships.

Inessa was also a competitor at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Games, the 2002 and 2006 World Cup Finals and the 1999 and 2001 Europeans.

Aleksandra competes in both Big Tour dressage and jumping. She competed Bojengels at the European Under-25 Championships last summer and moved up to senior Grand Prix 10 months ago. On Scampalo, she competed in five European youth championships from 2014 through 2018.

Tatyana competed Diavolessa at the 2018 World Games in Tryon and the 2017 and 2019 Europeans.