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Whidbey Island native helps US Equestrian Team win silver in Dressage Grand Prix Special in Tokyo

Adrienne Lyle was born and raised on Whidbey Island. She and her horse, Salvino, earned their first Olympic medal Tuesday and helped Team USA win silver.

TOKYO, Japan — A western Washington native helped the U.S. Equestrian Team win silver during the Dressage Grand Prix Special at the Tokyo Olympics Tuesday.

Adrienne Lyle, who was born and raised on Whidbey Island, competed first Tuesday morning on her horse Salvino. The two laid the foundation for their fellow teammates posting a score of 76.109% and Lyle earned her first-ever Olympic medal. 

Teammates Steffen Peters, riding Suppenkasper, and Sabine Schut-Kery, riding Sanceo, went on to score 77.776% and 81.596%. 

The high marks secured the silver medal for Team USA, ahead of Great Britain. Germany's dressage team won gold again. The Germans have won gold in nine of the last 10 Olympics, with a 2012 silver medal in London the exception.

Although the U.S. dressage team has claimed medals in five of the last seven Olympics, this marks their best finish in the Grand Prix Special since the 1948 London Games, where they also won silver.

Credit: AP
The United States' Adrienne Lyle, from left, Steffen Peters and Sabine Schut-Kery, stand on the podium after receiving the silver medal for the equestrian dressage team event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Lyle also qualified for the Individual Dressage Final on Wednesday morning but didn't compete, saying Salvino wasn't up to the task. Lyle talked about the relationship between horse and rider on the TODAY Show Thursday. 

“It truly is a partnership, I mean we live and breathe these animals, we’ve trained them for years to get here, and they have to trust you when you go in, we fly them half way around the world and go in these strange venues and they put their total faith in us," said Lyle. "[The horses] let us control every single foot fall. We had every performance on our team with no mistakes, which is an incredible accomplishment to sneak into that silver medal position, and our animals, we do it because we love them, we do it with a passion for the horses."

Lyle, 36, competed for Team USA in the 2012 London Olympics, where she finished 37th in the individual final. In 2014, she competed at the World Equestrian Games in France and placed 4th in the individual dressage competition. Then, in 2018, she won a silver medal at the World Dressage Championships. 

Lyle has been riding since the age of seven and attended Washington State University before training with Debbie McDonald in Ketchum, Idaho. Lyle now lives in Florida.  

Watch Team USA's performance on nbcolympics.com

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