The Dutch WEG Dressage Team has been nominated for the award of Sports Team of the Year, which will be handed out at the 2010 Sports Gala hosted by the Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF) on 14 December 2010 at the RAI in Amsterdam.
The Dutch WEG team, consisting of Edward Gal (Totilas), Imke Schellekens-Bartels (Sunrise), Hans Peter Minderhoud (Nadine) and Adelinde Cornelissen (Parzival), reigned supreme in the Grand Prix at the 2010 World Equestrian Games and won team gold.
"For the first time in history a Dutch dressage team won team gold at a World Championships," said Maarten van der Heijden, director of the Dutch Equestrian Federation. "It's a unique performance because arch rival Germany has been unbeaten at World Championships since 1974."
At the 2010 NOC*NSF Sports Gama, the Dutch dressage team is getting serious competition from the Dutch soccer team, which lost the 2010 World Soccer Championships against Spain, and the sailing duo Lobke Berkhout and Lisa Westerhof.
Edward Gal, who won triple gold at the 2010 World Equestrian Games, has surprisingly not been nominated for the Male Athlete of the Year award. The three candidates for this award of soccer player Wesley Sneijders and ice skaters Sven Kramer and Mark Tuitert.
The Dutch Equestrian Federation is disappointed that Gal is not in the running for the Athlete's Award. "Because the FEI proclaimed Edward Gal 'Athlete of the Year 2010' we truly hoped that an equestrian rider would have been amongst that trio," said Van der Heijden.
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