American equestrian rider Jessica Rae Springsteen, daughter of legendary singer Bruce Springsteen, will make her Olympic debut for Team USA astride her 12-year-old stallion Don Juan van de Donkhoeve later on Tuesday as she aims for glory in sports after her illustrious father enthralled the world with hit albums like “Born in the USA” and “Darkness on the Edge of Town”.
The 29-year-old Jessica and her 12-year-old stallion, Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, are one of four rider-horse pairings which are competing at the Tokyo Olympics.
Jessica, who is ranked in the world’s top 15 and is considered a good bet for a medal in the team event, alongside Kent Farrington and Laura Kraut, began riding at the age of four at the family’s farm in New Jersey. Now ranked No. 3 in the US show jumping list, she has come a long way since her days on the family farmhouse.
Jessica was named as an alternate rider for the 2012 London Olympics, while in 2016 Rio, an injury to her horse took her out of the running at the quadrennial showpiece five years back.
Jessica’s parents are expected to watch the competition from their home in California, reports news.sky.com.
“This is not only my first Olympics, but also my first championships. I am so excited to represent my country at this level. It is something I have always dreamt of, and I am just really looking forward to the experience. Just to be selected on this team that I have looked up to throughout my career has been a huge honour for me,” Jessica was quoted as saying by news.sky.com.
“Me and Don (horse) have been able to build on our partnership over this last year. And when it came time to the selection events, I felt really confident how far we had come. When I got Don he was jumping up to three-star level, so I kind of brought him up to this level — it was about fine-tuning everything, getting used to jumping these bigger tracks,” said Jessica.
“I think your natural reaction when you are jumping big is you want to ride a little bit stronger. But with him, he doesn’t need that. He just rides off my feeling and I can trust his scope and quality.”
