Ireland’s Michael Murphy wins second bronze medal at FEI Para Dressage World Championships

Less than four days after winning his first ever World Championship medal, Ireland’s Michael Murphy this morning (Sunday) claimed a second bronze medal, this time in the Grade I Freestyle Individual Championship at the ECCO FEI World Para Dressage Championships at Herning in Denmark.

An excellent score of 78.387% in today’s Freestyle To Music Grand Prix with the 15-year-old gelding Cleverboy, gave Murphy another podium finish and a second bronze medal of the Championships to cap an outstanding week. Italy’s Sara Morganti took the gold medal with a score of 80.653 %, while silver went to Latvia’s Rihards Snikus on a score of 78.400%.

Horse Sport Ireland Para Dressage High Performance Director, Debora Pijpers said:

“I am very proud of how all four Irish Para Dressage combinations presented themselves this World Championships. Highlights were absolutely Michael Murphy and Cleverboy obtaining a historical bronze medal in the individual competition ánd a bronze medal again in the Freestyle (Grade I), with a gap of 0,013% separating them from a silver medal. The aim for the team result was to achieve a top 12 position, so I’m very pleased with the 9th position and the promising scores (76,072%, 69,824%, 67,975%) that contributed to this. I feel that each rider as an individual but also our team has grown from all valuable experiences in Tokyo last year. We are very happy with the results now and we are motivated and inspired to develop and improve our team further!”

Horse Sport Ireland Chief Executive, Denis Duggan, said:

“For Michael to come away from these Championships with two medals and a top 10 finish for our team, is just reward for the incredible effort he and the entire High Performance squad led by Debora Pijpers have put in. I want to congratulate Michael and his family, support team, trainers and of course the owners of Cleverboy – Bronte Watson, Elder Klatzko, Sue Murphy and John Murphy. The past few weeks have been incredible for Irish equestrian sport with numerous European Championship medal wins, two World Championship medals and Olympic qualification for our senior Show Jumping team and we look forward to celebrating these achievements together at the Dublin Horse Show next week.”