Ireland will have a Dressage team in the Olympics for the first time in history

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The Irish Dressage team have qualified for an Olympic Games for the first time ever.

Anna Merveldt, Judy Reynolds, Heike Holstein and Kate Dwyer after qualifying for the Olympics today.

The final Irish rider Kildare’s Judy Reynolds, onboard Vancouver K, scored a new National Grand Prix record earlier at the European Championships in Rotterdam.

It means the Irish team will take part in the event in the Tokyo Games next summer.

Reynolds, Anna Merveldt, Heike Holstein and Kate Dwyer finished on a final score of 213.540, to finish second of the eight teams who had been chasing one of the three tickets to Tokyo that were on offer at the final Olympic qualifier for European teams.

Ireland were just outside the Olympic qualifying places when Reynolds delivered a stunning performance to set a new Irish record of 76.351 and guarantee Ireland a team place at the Olympics.

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