Freestyler aiming for medal

When Carl Hester enters the dressage arena tomorrow he will achieve a first for British dressage, becoming the first rider to appear in the Olympic freestyle final.

The 37-year-old and his horse, Escapado, have surpassed expectations all week in Athens and in the Grand Prix Special, the last qualifying test for the final, he did so again.

The combination's score of 71.553 per cent was good enough for ninth position, well inside the top 15 who move through to the freestyle round.

"It was a fantastic performance," said GB team manager David Trott. "It was not completely unexpected but his form this week has certainly surprised us.

"If we are honest, we would have expected one of the other riders to be there, not because Carl is not capable of that but because the horse is so inexperienced.

"We could not be more thrilled for him and he has thoroughly deserved his place in the freestyle.

"We have never qualified someone for the freestyle and so this is hugely exciting for the whole team."

Hester doesn't just want to make up the numbers

The freestyle was added to the Olympic programme at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta but Hester also becomes the first Briton to appear at the medal stage of the competition for 20 years.

It is a huge achievement already but three-time Olympian is refusing to settle for just a final place and will go all out to succeed in his quest for an Olympic medal.

"We are going to use Richard Davison's original programme because that is much more technical and therefore there are more points on offer," added Trott.

"Carl's planned programme was too simple to win a medal and so we needed to try something with a much higher degree of difficulty.

"It will be difficult for him [Escapado] because it will be something he is not used to but we decided to give it everything and see what happens."

The atmosphere and pressure of the occasion may just prove too much for Hester's young horse in its Olympic debut but his rider remains convinced he has the talent to perform on the day.

"Normally I don't use music with him because he gets very nervous," said Hester.

"But he is hugely talented. His only problem is that he is not very experienced and that is where the errors come.

"That was where we had difficulty but he is so talented that he was able to overcome that. There is nothing that he cannot do."