Car accident sets back Merveldt Olympic qualification bid

ANNA Merveldt’s quest for an individual berth at the London Olympics next year has been temporarily set back by a car accident that forced her withdrawal from the Pappas Amadeus Indoor CDI4* in Salzburg, Austria this weekend.

Anna, Ireland’s leading international rider with Coryolano, was injured when a car ran into her auto as she was driving out of her yard in Milan on Nov. 17.

The injury did not become apparent for 10 days but last Monday was diagnosed as a broken rib below her left arm. She was told to stop riding as she risked puncturing a lung.

Anna, 49, will be out of action for at least two weeks, losing valuable competition time before the March 1 cutoff date for individual qualifying scores for London.

With her own Coryoalno, a 15-year-old Bavarian gelding (Coriolan x Florina x Gajus), Anna is 49th in FEI World Ranking and 41st in Olympic listings. That places her third among individual riders with 1,611 points, behind Norway’s Sirl Helljesen and Dorina (1,716 points) and Finland’s Mikaela Lindh and Skovlunds Mas Guapo (1,647) from nations that have not qualified a team for the Games in Group A.

Story courtesy www.dressage-news.com