Von Bredow-Werndl and her 17-year-old Trakehner awed the crowd with a dazzling freestyle routine set to the sounds of Edith Piaf against the fairytale backdrop of the Palace of Versailles. As she and Dalera danced, the 38-year-old and the mare strung together elements of the highest difficulty, earning them a 90.093 and the gold medal. 

It is Von Bredow-Werndl’s fourth gold medal, her second of the Paris Olympics after winning team gold on Saturday. She also took home a double after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

55-year-old Werth on her mare Wendy also turned out a spectacular freestyle routine to “Mandy” by Barry Manilow, re-written as Wendy in honour of her horse, scoring an 89.614. Werth’s medal collection is now a staggering eight golds and six silvers across seven Olympic Games.

Team GB’s Fry and her stallion Glamourdale achieved a mark of 88.971 Fry’s routine began to the strains of God Save The King, and also featured Queen’s Another One Bites The Dust, which Fry said is Glamourdale’s favourite. 

"As soon as the music starts, I think it really gets everyone up and dancing and Glamourdale really dances to it, I think Another One Bites The Dust is his favourite song. He chose his music because he loves it so much, he was just really loving every second," Fry said after the competition. 

The Netherlands’ Dinja van Liere, riding Hermes, was fourth while Denmark's Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, one of the top contenders for the final after getting the best marks in the qualification and team events, came in fifth despite an entertaining routine that was a crowd favourite. 

Olympic equestrian resumes 5 August at 14:00 CEST with jumping individual qualifiers.