Lexington, Ky.—Oct. 6
With the scores as tight as they were going into the team final for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games show jumping gold, there was no room for error. And Germany made no errors, putting three clean rounds on the books to clinch the title.
Germany was in first after Round 1 of the Nations Cup, but by the slimmest of margins. The top six teams were within a rail of each other before Round 2. Janne-Friederike Meyer, 29, who was making her German team debut, contributed a brilliant clear round to lead off the German effort tonight. Carsten-Otto Nagel and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum both followed that up with clear rounds to ensure no one caught Germany for gold.
“Right now for me is really unbelievable,” Meyer said. “I’m so happy I was allowed to ride on the team. Meredith and Carsten and Marcus are really idols to me, and I was happy I could support the team. Right now I have the feeling that I need a lot of wine and beer so I have a really bad day tomorrow, so I can then think, ‘Why am I having a bad day?’ and I can remember, ‘OK, because I’m a world champion!’”
“Janne started with a clear round, so it was a great feeling for us,” said Nagel. “I rode not so well today, but Corradina is unbelievable, and she tried so hard and made everything right. Jumping two clear rounds first tonight was very important for us because everything was so close.”
France made a big move up for silver, and Belgium took the bronze.
Listen to an interview with Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum.
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For the U.S. riders, on the other hand, errors abounded.They finished in 10th—click here to read all about it.
They Battled Up The Ranks
The French team was in third after the speed leg but dropped to fifth after Round 1 of the Nations Cup. Kevin Staut, currently the No. 1-ranked rider in the FEI standings, had a disastrous speed leg and was the drop score for that day but rallied and jumped clean in both rounds of the Nations Cup to anchor the team to victory.
“I was so angry at myself for riding so badly in the speed class,” Staut said. “I was really thinking I had to fight for the team. The other three riders are great, and I really enjoyed being on this team.”
Staut wasn’t wearing the armband signifying his world No. 1 status on he first two days of team competition, but he was for Round 2 of the Nations Cup.
“I am proud to be leading the world rankings, but I was thinking more about the team and not about myself so much here. In the spirit of the team, I was thinking not to wear it. I had it in my pocket the first two days. They asked me to wear it today,” he said.
Brazil had looked to be on their way to their first team medal in a major international championship when they were in second after Germany following Round 1 of the Nations Cup. And it looked like they might hold on for a medal after Rodrigo Pessoa posted his second clear Nations Cup go on HH Rebozo. But then Pedro Veniss and Alvaro Miranda dropped one rail each, putting them into third. If their last rider on course, Bernardo Alves, had gone clean, they would have had bronze. But he posted 5 faults for a rail and a time fault, dropping them to fifth.
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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia tried very hard to win their own first medal today, and they were achingly close. But Kamal Bahamdan’s 16 faults as the first to go really put the pressure on them. Abdullah Al Sharbatly posted a clean go for them, but Ramzy Al Duhami added 10 faults to their total. When Khaled Al Eid had a rail, they dropped to eighth.
Individual Medals Are Still Up For Grabs
Al Eid’s rail had consequences for him individually as well. He’d been leading the individual standings after the speed leg and Round 1 of the Nations Cup, but now he’ll go into the last individual qualifier in seventh place.
Pessoa has taken over the lead in the individual rankings, with Belgian rider Philippe Le Jeune and German Carsten-Otto Nagel behind him. Eric Lamaze of Canada is in fourth, with a much less famous Canadian, John Pearce, right behind him in fifth.
The show jumpers have a rest day Thursday, then the top 30 individuals return to jump in the final individual qualifier on Friday, Oct. 8. The top four finishers after that round then return the next night for the final four, where their score slates are wiped clean and they trade horses for a ride-off for the individual medals.
Catch up on all the WEG show jumping action, and check in with the other WEG sports at the Kentucky Horse Park. For full results, check the official Alltech FEI WEG site.
