Lis Hartel (March 14, 1921 – February 12, 2009) was a Danish equestrian athlete. Hartel became the first woman in equestrianism to win an Olympic medal when she won silver medals at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics in dressage. She accomplished this feat despite being paralysed below the knees as a result of polio and required assistance on and off her horse. She has had a large impact on horsemanship in Denmark. She also was given a lot of credit for starting the movement for therapeutic riding schools, in fact one in Holland is named the Lis Hartel in honor of her.
The Danish Equestrian Federation announced that Hartel had died on February 12, 2009. She was 87.
Her accomplishments are inspiring. Thank you, Andreas, for telling the story behind the woman. Also really enjoyed the film clip of the ceremonies and other riders.
AntwortenLöschenThank you so much for sharing this. I also found this write up about her recieving her medal in 1952.
AntwortenLöschenLis Hartel and Jubilee with Gold Medalist, Henri St-Cyr
Following her stunning performance, as Lis was helped down from her horse, a gentleman rushed to her side. It was the Gold medal winner, Henri Saint Cyr. He carried her to the victory platform for the medal presentation.
It was one of the most emotional moments in Olympic history.
Very interesting and inspiring! Thank you for sharing!
AntwortenLöschenI thought H&D denizens might be interested to read Alois Podhajsky's comments on this event, made in his book The Art of Dressage: Basic Principles of Riding and Judging (New York: Doubleday and Co., 1976), pp. 84-87.
AntwortenLöschenThe Individual Olympic Medallists/Grand Prix de Dressage of the 1952 Games in Helsinki were:
Major St. Cyr (Sweden) on Master Rufus (Gold)
Lis Hartel (Denmark) on Jubilee (Silver)
Colonel Joussaume (France) on Harpagon (Bronze)
Team medals in Dressage went to
1. Sweden
2. Switzerland
3. Germany
[quote from pp. 85-87:]
"At the 1952 Olympics the Grand Prix was again raised to the level of Olympic standards by reintroducing piaffe and passage. The test was judged by a jury of five, with the highest and the lowest scores dropped. Consequently, the scores of three judges only counted for the final results. The place marks were not taken into consideration and have not been reintroduced since. Instead, after each ride the judges compared the marks they had given for the different groups of exercises in the test. The scores had to be corrected in case of a difference exceeding four marks. The test sheet provided a special column for these corrections. As a logical consequence to this procedure, the judge with the greatest experience and knowledge but also with an overpowering personality forced his opinion upon the other members of the jury. Moreover, weak and uncertain judges, by wavering between the indifferent marks four to seven, escaped having to stand up for their evaluations to the president of the jury. All in all, this was certainly not a satisfactory solution of the problem.
"The dressage riders of the Olympics Games in 1952 displayed a better standard of riding than those of 1948. Nevertheless, their performances were still far inferior to those of the Olympics of 1936. Above all, an alarming difference of conception manifested itself among the judges. It was reflected in their evaluations, which were justifiably criticised and even disputed. Having closely followed the Grand Prix de Dressage from the first to the last rider, the observer could not help but shake his head at the score sheets of the different judges. The lack of any clearly defined opinion and set of standards became aggravatingly obvious. It was hard to imagine what actual ideal of a dressage horse the members of the jury might have in mind.
"Incidentally but curiously, in Helsinki the representatives of the so call Romanic school rode partly with a very strong contact with the bit, almost giving the impression that they forced their horses' heads into a certain position by means of the reins. The representatives of the so-called Germanic school, on the contrary, showed their horses on a long, sometimes even slack, rein. Such observations prove once more that one should not speak of a Germanic or a Romanic style of riding and even less relate them to a firm or a light contact with the bit. This is ridiculous and irrelevant."
Thank you! I pulled out this book and re-read your quote...very interesting! Looking forward to reading some more on this.
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