Shruti Vora clinches silver at Brno Grand Prix; stakes claim for Paris Olympics spot

India's dressage rider Shruti Vora won her second Minimum Eligibility Requirement (MER) score at the Brno Grand Prix in the Czech Republic on Saturday, June 22,. By doing so, she stakes a claim for a slot in the Paris Olympics 2024.

Vora achieved her second MER for the Paris Games with a score of 68.174. Earlier, she created history by becoming the first rider from India to claim a three-star Grand Prix dressage as well.

“This is unbelievable. In fact, no word in English language can do justice to my feelings right now. Totally unglaublich (German for unbelievable)!" Shruti Vora was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Vora was in impeccable form throughout the nine-minute routine. She even led the seven-rider competition at one stage, before she was overtaken by Katarzyna Milczarek (69.304 points) from Poland. Matthias Bouten (67.022 points) from Germany claimed the bronze to complete the top three.

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Shruti Vora confident of boarding the flight to Paris

Anush Agarwalla is another Indian who is in the scheme of things for the Paris dressage slot. Agarwalla also has the required MERs, and finished 20th in Kronenberg GP on June 21 with a score of 67.022 points.

However, Shruti Vora is confident of her chances of making the cut for the Paris Olympics 2024.

“I agree that Anush got his MERs within the qualifying window but he managed only one MER this year, which brings his current form into question. This year, Anush has been unable to get the scores while three of his four MERs prove little of his form or his horse’s fitness. No other country selects people based on past performances. My scores are better and more recent and I am confident of boarding the flight to Paris,” she stated.

Shruti Vora has had a great run in recent times. She became the only Indian to win a GP-3 level event on June 7 in Slovenia. The talented rider has participated in seven events this year and has secured top-three finishes in five of them.

“A minimum 67% must be attributed twice to the Athlete/Horse combination by both a L4 judge and as an average from all judges in the competition, and the score must be achieved in a Grand Prix test at two different CDI3*/CDI4*/CDI5*/CDI-W/CDIO events. Athletes and Horses must obtain the MER at events which take place from 1 January 2023 until the MER deadline of 24 June, 2024 included,” FEI’s selection criterion states.

The Equestrian Federation of India (EFI's) selection criteria state that if more than one athlete is eligible, the athlete with the highest average in the Grand Prix out of the best four events in the past year will be chosen to participate.

The deadline to send the rider's name to the FEI ends on June 25, 2024.