Equestrian continued Tuesday with the first of the two-day dressage Grand Prix qualifiers, with Denmark dancing to the top of the leaderboard.

With just one round of qualifying for both the team and individual dressage finals, performing well in the Grand Prix is critical for the athletes' medal chances. With three of the six groups recording their scores on Day 1 and the other three slated to compete during the second day of Grand Prix qualifiers, several athletes were able to secure their spots in the final rounds, while others saw their Paris dreams cut short.

Six nations had two athletes compete on Day 1 of the dressage Grand Prix, while the other nine had only one. 

After finishing fourth in team dressage at the Tokyo Olympics, Denmark took an early lead in the Paris competition after a dominant performance by Nanna Skodborg Merrald. As just the second rider to take to the course, Merrald set the standard for the day, starting the defending World Champions off with a nearly flawless routine. Teammate Daniel Bachmann Andersen rode second for Denmark, extending the team's lead with a top-five score of the day and bringing Denmark to the top of the leaderboard. Andrina Suter will ride the anchor leg for the Danish on Wednesday, taking to the course as the final rider in group D. With only one Olympic medal in team dressage history, Denmark has put itself in great position to bring home more hardware from Paris.

World powerhouse Great Britain finished in second place out of the teams with two scored riders, just over two and a half points behind the Danish. The defending European Champions and World Champion silver medalists had strong scores from both Carl Hester and Becky Moody which put them on track to defend their bronze medal from the Tokyo Games. Closing out the Grand Prix round for the British will be reigning individual dressage World Champion Charlotte Fry, who Great Britain will be counting on for a strong score in order to make a run at the top of the podium. Gold medal favorite Germany only had one rider compete on Day 1 of the Grand Prix qualifier, with first-time Olympian Frederic Wandres scoring within the top five. With two of dressage's best competitors in Isabell Werth and Jessica Von Bredow-Werndl still to come, the Germans are expected to move into a podium position on Day 2.

The United States saw its hopes of a team dressage medal come to premature ending after Marcus Orlob was forced to withdraw mid-competition after judges saw blood on the leg of his mount. Preaching caution for the horses well-being, judges cut Orlob's routine short, eliminating him from the competition and effectively ending the United States' hope of defending their Tokyo silver medal.

RESULTS

With all 18 of the day's riders split into three groups of 10, the top two finishers in each group with advance to the individual final, while the final six spots will be awarded to the riders with the top remaining scores.

Day 1 of the dressage grand prix saw its best performance on just the second run of the morning when Merrald scored a 78.028. Over the rest of the morning, her score would not be beaten by any rider, and she will enter day 2 as the woman to beat. Her performance was the first of several strong rides in group A, which posted the top three scores of the day. Dinja Van Liere of the Netherlands grabbed second place in group A with a 77.764, guaranteeing her advancement to the dressage individual final. Hester finished third with a score of 77.345. While he is not guaranteed an automatic stop in the final, at the moment his score is well-within the top six overall. Barring a series of exceptional runs on Day 2, he will also take to the course in the individual final.

Similarly to group A, group B also saw its best performance come from a Danish rider, with Andersen posting a leading score of 76.910. Wandres grabbed the group's other guaranteed spot with a score of 76.118, finishing less than a point behind Andersen. Both Emma Kanerva of Finland and Flore De Winne of Belgium scored within the 73 point range, putting themselves in contention for two of the six additional final spots. 

Group C had the weakest showing on Day 1, with Moody posting a group best score of 74.938, followed by Patrik Kittel of Sweden with a 74.317.  Adrienne Lyle was the only rider to complete the course for the United States on Day 1, posting a score of 72.593 to finish in third place in group C. Sitting in fourth out of all riders who didn't gain an automatic spot in the final, Lyle will await the results of Day 2 to see if she will have a chance to contend for an individual metal.

A number of dressage titans have yet to take the course in this Olympics, with both Werth, Von Bredow-Werndl, Fry and American Steffen Peters slated to compete on Wednesday.

RESULTS