Antonio do Vale was honoured to be part of the Riders team

Rider Antonio do Vale said on Tuesday he was “very happy” to make his Olympic debut after completing dressage qualification, but above all he assured that he was proud to be part of the “riders” team.

Called in at the last minute to replace João Moreira due to emergency surgery on Furst’s horse Kennedy Old, Antonio Weil finished with 66,910 points on Fine Fellow.

“I’m very, very happy because it’s my debut in a championship like this. I was already in the reserves. I was happy to be a reserve again,” he told Lusa.

However, António do Vale has not forgotten his teammate João Moreira and how they all came together to save his horse.

“At this point in our sport, now with the welfare of the horse, here in these Olympics, we have seen what horsemen are like, even if they make mistakes from time to time. The horse was on the verge of death, we rolled up our sleeves, my manager, the vets, the whole team didn’t want to know more about the Olympics, they wanted to save the horse’s life, that’s all. That’s important,” he said.

Moreover, Antonio do Vale says he played his part by ensuring he would be at the Olympics to “serve”, to “help the team”.

“I’m honored to be on this team with men on horses. They’re not Olympic athletes, they’re people on horses,” he said, visibly moved.

As for João Moreira, who was hugged at the end of the race, António do Vale says that he “cannot show his performance, but in his heart he has the same determination” and that he gave everything “also in honor of him and to motivate him, because he has a lot of time ahead of him and there will be many medals.”

“I want to be here with him too, because, besides, we are friends. Even if we were not, at the top is the animal that we love, for which we sacrifice all the time… Because people think that we are fair. We sacrifice for the sport, but we sacrifice for it,” said Antonio do Vale, who left his five children at home with their grandparents.