Egyptian Equestrian Takes First Place at the Grand Prix of Paris

Egyptian equestrian Sameh El Dahan won the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Paris, according to CNN.

He received a standing ovation as he triumphed against 10 world-class riders, and this win makes him the tenth rider to qualify for the LGCT Super Grand Prix at the GC Playoffs in Prague in September. El Dahan was clearly overwhelmed with joy. “I can’t explain my emotions. My mare tried her heart out. I am loving the crowds, everyone was behind us. I’m so chuffed it hasn’t really sunk in yet”, he said. He also feels waves of relief as he managed to qualify for Prague. “That was one of our aims and at least now we have done it and can focus on bringing the mare there in best form and competing with the best 16 riders in the world and hopefully we'll pull out a great result there," he explained.

Last month, El Dahan won the Constance Le Prince Maurice speed class CSI 5* in Cannes. The man’s on a run. Quick note – CSI is a French abbreviation for Concours de Saut International, and it’s basically a ranking system where more competitive events with more prize money have a higher number of stars, going from 1 to 5. Sameh is now 20^th worldwide in the Global Champions Tour ranking of 2018.

Main image from Horse Times Egypt