On the 25th August, 2004 Dressage lovers throughout the world applauded the magical performance of Dressage Freestyle (Kür) which created Olympic history with a score of 85.825%, and took the three day tally of Anky van Grunsven and Salinero from The Netherlands, to an overall competition score of 79.253%. This wonderful Freestyle performance was the highlight at Athens for many lovers of the sport ... and it kept Anky's Olympic crown securely in place for another 4 years.

After the first two day's of competition, Anky was behind the reigning world No 1, Ulla Salzgeber Germany) and her 16 YO chestnut gelding Rusty. Following the Grand Prix qualifier, Anky seemed to be out of the race, an improved performance in the Special gave some hope but, she and had to create magic in the Kür if she was to retain the Olympic Championship - and, that she did!

From left: Ulla Salzgeber, Silver. Anky Van Grunsven Gold,
and Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, Bronze

Anky's 2004 musical arrangement was titled - L'Èsprit Chansons (The Spirit of the Songs)  and was the inspirational creation of Cees Slings and Victor Kerkhof , who have provided the legendary themes for Bonfire's spine tingling performances. Together the Dutch trio have created a benchmark that few could hope to reach and the Slings/Kerkhof connection has no doubt been Anky's edge in her period of domination in the sport.

L'Èsprit Chansons features a number of well known French classics with an original 'twist' that creates a complete theatrical concept.. The imaginative arrangement lifted the performance and highlighted harmony with perfect synchronisation between the music and Salinero's paces. It is difficult to imagine how they could have done better. At the completion of her ride there was a hushed reverence and we all knew , before the announcement, that the Markopolou crown had just witnessed the Gold Medal winning test.

Anky's Gold medal was surely an award shared with the genius of the men behind the music - Cees Slings and Victor Kerkhof. After hearing the announcement on local television, they celebrated by conducting their own medal ceremony at home in Leersum, Holland.

The impromptu celebration was organised in a 'flash' by Mirjam who had the chocolate medals in the fridge, left over from the team's  Sydney party.  Cees said " We love to have fun and try not take everything too seriously.  The laurel wreaths were made on the spot from leaves we picked out of the garden.  It gave us the chance to have fun and celebrate together."

Victor and Cees win Gold !!!

Cees and Victor are 'household' names in Holland. Their tunes and jingles are behind many familiar sound tracks including works for John de Mol Produkties, Endemol GmbH, RTL Television, ZDF, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel & Disney Cinema. Many major national and international drama productions including comedy, wildlife, documentaries are all part of the day to day activities of the boys.

Slings & Kerkhof music is heard in many well known advertisements for international brands such as Philips, ECI, Inventum, Oogmerk Opticiens, Amersfoort ZOO, Choq, Canon, BMW, Pepsi Cola, O'Neill, Pirelli, Kimberly-Clark, Bausch & Lomb (RayBan) and TV-series, drama and comedy productions. Music composed by Slings & Kerkhof were broadcasted in more than 52 countries throughout the world.

The musical team!

Many Australian's would not realise that In January 1999 Slings and Kerkhof became the official NOC*NSF composers for Sydney 2000. In corporation with The Metropole Orchestra. During the European winter period 1999-2000, they started composing The Overture, Sail 2000, for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Mike Rutherford.

Cees Slings and Anky van Grunsven discuss some creative ideas.

Cees and Victor introduced a novel twist to their 2004 Olympic work - the inclusion of Anky's voice. I can imagine how much meaningful and enjoyable her performance was when so much of 'her' went into the delivery of her Gold Medal performance.

For me the pity of it was that the Olympic Games was not like the Oscars - The Best Actress award - Anky. Beest Supporting Actor, Salinero, and best musical score Slings & Kerhoff. They all get the gold and we honour the special achievement of all those who go to make a 'box office' success.

Here are some pictures of Anky, Victor and Cees at the studio in Leersum. They were taken by Cees' partner Mirjam during Anky's
vocal recording session. ( we call this part a vocalise, singing without words: in this one it is dabadaba da bada etc)

Cyberhorse will be including a full profile on The Men behind the Music, very soon.

Cyberhorse thanks Cees Slings for sharing this information with the many people who love and admire Anky's freestyle performances - we have been inspired by her and the musical genious.

© Cyberhorse 2004 Berni Saunders