It's not a massive surprise. It was a huge amateur sport at the time, Wimbledon had been going for 19 years at that point. It was dropped between 1924 and 1984 anyways, with a one off in 1968.
True but for very different reasons however. USA have a collegiate sporting setup envied around the world. China is the ultimate state driven sporting system.
The US system is far more than just 'collegiate'. My 3-year old granddaughter attends a (rather expensive), huge, local gymnastics and trampolining facility, with kids from 2 to about 18. Some of the older kids are Olympic-class. There are similar facilities in most parts of the US. Hull itself had a former national trampoline champion in John Newton, now Head of the PE Faculty at Carnegie, Leeds.
I noticed a tweet yesterday, that said ' if you don't know what dressage is, just imagine a load of people being given a Porsche 911 Turbo, then having a competition to see who can drive the slowest'.
But isn't that all part of the same System? Doesn't being great at sport lead to a better chance of a top education?
Hull itself also had a national standard trampoline facility before the Allams refurbished a building that wasn't theirs so that other sports couldn't use it
Funny enough - but misses the point and the skill. A car with a brain (sort of) and the capacity to go from 0 to 80 in an instant because it's seen something out of the corner of its eye that it's flight instinct is telling it to get away from. And you have to guide it through a series of movements in a confined space, with only a handbrake for control basically. I think the problem with dressage as a sport (as with many others) is you only ever see the top riders ando top horses who make it look effortless most of the time
That's true....as I said I know Charlotte.....she is actually as fit as the majority of Olympic athletes.....it's not easy controlling an animal with the power those horses have in order to get then to perform so perfectly. It's not just her own fitness either, they are often up at 5am looking after the horses, sorting stables & grooming before even thinking about getting into the ring at home & actually doing any other training of the horses
