Merveldt faces nervous wait in bid to make dressage cut

Dressage rider Anna Merveldt says she will be “sweating” today as she waits to see if her performance yesterday proves good enough to see her through to the next round.

The Canadian-born 49-year-old, who was brought up in Naas, scored 69.772% with her gelding Coryolano to place 14th of the 25 riders to contest the opening day, with Britain’s Carl Hester and Uthopia topping the leaderboard on 77.720%.

The second tranche of riders go before the seven judges today and, at the close of play, Merveldt must be in the top 32 — made up of seven teams of three and 11 individuals — if she is to progress to next Tuesday’s grand prix special.