Valentina Truppa Recovered from Head Injury, Withdraws from Italian Team

Thu, 07/30/2015 - 15:42
Italian Dressage News

Valentina Truppa has received a clean bill of health after her latest check-up at the Santa Maria delle
Scotte hopsital in Siena on 29 July 2015, but will only be allowed to ride as of September. Therefore, she has withdrawn from the Italian team for the 2015 European Championships.

Valentina Truppa sustained a head injury on 7 June 2015 when she fell off a 7-year old at the CDN Arezzo. She spent two weeks in the hospital and further rehabilitated at home but was not allowed to ride. On 29 July she had a final check-up with Dr. Alessandro Rossi going through a scheduled list of
tests that confirmed her complete recovery.

The doctor recommended one more test at the end of August.  "She can then go back to horse riding at the beginning of September on time to
concentrate on the qualifications for the 2015-2015 World Cup and
for Rio Olympic qualification," said Truppa's press officer Marta Fusetti.

With Valentina dropping out of the team for the 2015 European Championships, it is not sure whether Italy will be fielding a team after all. The team selection was already highly controversial with the fourth team rider Ester Soldi only getting a spot through a special rule, which reads "In case a team has only 3 qualified combinations (Rustignoli, Tiozzo and Truppa) the federation reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to call up a 4th member to complete the team, following the above criteria.”

Soldi and Harmonia did not achieve the required three 66% Grand Prix scores to qualify on the team and neither did team reserve member Federica Scolari, who is still officially nominated. With Truppa dropping out, only two riders have officially qualified and the federation can not resort to its special rule to call up a fourth rider. 

Photo © Astrid Appels

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