Kate Kyros has delivered an advanced Chemistry lesson in Florida to claim gold for Australia in the CDIO Under 25 Grand Prix Freestyle Nations Cup final.
The Bond University Law and Business double major finished Nations Cup week at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington with a gold medal for Australia and with it the Nations Cup individual gold.
Accompanied by an Alice in Wonderland soundtrack Kyros rode her 12-year-old stallion Chemistry to 73.69 percent and the unanimous nod from all five judges.
Personal bests from two US riders were not enough to topple her from first place with Josh Albrecht, 22, winning silver with a score of 70.13 percent and Dennesy Rogers, 21, claiming bronze with 68.8 percent.
It was the dream Australian debut for 19-year-old Kyros.
“It’s my first ever time representing Australia, my first ever Nations Cup, and my first time ever wearing all the uniform,” she said.
“Doing it at this level is incredible.
“I don’t think many other young riders have medalled at the Nations Cup for Australia, so it’s super exciting.”
Kyros, the 2023 Bond University Sports Person of the Year, announced herself as Australia’s best young rider throughout a dominant debut domestic season in FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale) under 25 Grand Prix events.
She was named the overall FEI CDI Young Rider and the FEI CDI U25 National Reserve Champion.
The flood of results, unexpected in her first year in the division and in partnership with Chemistry and Intro K, prompted Kyros and her mother Heather to head to Florida for the three-month AGDF series.
She started with a bang, steering Chemistry to six wins in the CDI Young Rider and under 25 Grand Prix events.
But the highlight came this week with her performances in the Nations Cup.
“I was very emotional,” admitted Kyros.
“Turning from my final piaffe pirouette I was thinking, ‘I am going to cry!’
“I’m so ridiculously proud of him (Chemistry).
“This is huge. I was nervous because he’s never done a freestyle with this big atmosphere before and he’s been a little nervous with the clapping, but the minute I got in there I just knew I had him, we were totally together and we were going to be fine.
“We haven’t even been competing him a year yet so we’ve gone very quickly and had some super success.
“He gives his heart 100 percent of the time, he never says no and I don’t think he’ll ever let me down.”
Intro K was also among the ribbons on Sunday. The pair won the CDIY Young Riders Freestyle with a score 75.745 percent, more than 6.5 percentage points over the runners-up.