Individual, Open

Dressage was held at a temporary facility set up on the grounds of the Nymphenburg Palace, a Baroque Palace in München. The Palace, built in the 17th century, had been the summer residence of the house of Wittelsbach. The decision by the OCOG to move dressage to Nymphenburg, was hotly disputed. The decision to hold dressage in Nymphenburg instead of Riem was influenced by a state visit by Queen Elizabeth II in 1965. When she was in München, the 1964 German Olympic gold medal team gave a 10-minute dressage demonstration in front of the castle, which enchanted the Queen and influenced the München OCOG’s decision.

The event again consisted of a preliminary and final round, with the top 12 finishers in the preliminaries advancing to the finals. The top 12 final placements were based only on the score in the final round. Women were first allowed to compete in dressage at the 1952 Olympics and this event was becoming more and more dominated by women, with 21 of the 33 competitors in 1972, females also winning the gold and silver medals. One female competitor was Britain’s Lorna Johnstone, born in 1902, and at 70 years, 3 days old on the day dressage started, the oldest ever female Olympian.

Liselott Linsenhoff had first competed at the 1956 Olympics, winning an individual dressage bronze, but she next appeared at the 1968 Olympics, where she helped Germany win team gold. In München she had the highest score both in the qualifying and final round to win the gold medal. Second went to Soviet Yelena Petushkova, who was also second in both rounds. Linsenhoff’s teammate, Josef Neckermann, won his third consecutive individual dressage medal, after a bronze in 1964 and silver in 1968. Petushkova was married, for a time, to Soviet high jump champion Valery Brumel.